Just the Beginning
by StacyWW12
Summary: Sam and Ainsley are newlyweds. Can they survive with a little something on the way? Sequel to my Already in Love. Some JD. NEW CHAPTER!
1. Back to Work

Just the Beginning

Rating: Teen- some parts may be inappropriate for children 12 and under.

"The West Wing" doesn't belong to me.

Chapter 1: Back to Work

May

Sam and Ainsley Seaborn got married exactly one week ago during the first year of the President Bartlet's second terms in office. Today, the Seaborns had made it back to their small D.C. residence after a relaxing honeymoon. They walked into their apartment, threw down their bags and began to kiss right at the door. They did have nine more hours of their honeymoon left. Sam eventually broke the kiss and sighed, "Ready for work tomorrow?"

Ainsley moved some of the bags into the living room. She was in her comfy jeans and t-shirt and couldn't even think about being in her high-heels and skirt for work tomorrow. "What's 'work'? I don't remember," teased Ainsley.

Sam brought the remainder of the bags to Ainsley and took a seat next to her on the floor. "Hmm… Well maybe work forgot about us too since no one called us."

"Yeah. Perfect honeymoon. No calls from the President, gorgeous Disney World, good food, a great hotel suite, and lots of sex."

"Amazing sex!" corrected Sam as he kissed her again.

"And don't forget your amazing tan!"

"Yeah, I did get a pretty good one didn't I?" teased Sam.

"Too bad you got that sunburn a few days before."

"Let's just remember the good things, okay Ainsley?"

"Like the sex?"

"Like the sex," repeated Sam.

"So I can't remember the food poising?"

"We can only remember the good tan, restaurant food and sex."

"I like that plan," smiled Ainsley as she bent forward to kiss Sam. They were kind of squished in their apartment since Ainsley still haven't unpacked her boxes over a year and a half ago when she first moved in. She still hadn't put up any of her family pictures or repainted the wall with all the scratch marks. "Do you remember which suitcase had the presents in it?" asked Ainsley.

"No."

"What good of a husband do you make?" teased Ainsley as she unzipped another suitcase. "Found them! Can you go get the wrapping paper please, Honey?"

"So is this is what it's going to be like? I run errands for you from now on?" asked a joking Sam.

Ainsley gave her sweetest smile, "Didn't you know that before you got into this marriage?"

"I'll go get them…Wife," said Sam.

An "ouch!" was heard from their bedroom. "Are you okay, Sam?" called out Ainsley.

Sam came back to the living room. "Just tripped on one of your boxes."

"I'm sorry. I'll clean up next weekend. I promise."

"I've been thinking we need a bigger place," said Sam.

"We have been talking about getting a bigger place since I moved in. That was about a year ago," stated Ainsley

"Yeah. I think we should look closer into that."

"Yeah?" said Ainsley with a smile creeping on her face.

"Yeah," grinned Sam.

Ainsley squealed with delight as she jumped up to give Sam a hug. "We're going to move!"

"We're going to move!" repeated Sam with almost the same excitement as Ainsley. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything for my man!"

"Can you still move those boxes out of the way so I don't get hurt again?"

Ainsley laid a kiss on Sam. "Of course."

* * *

The next day and with about five more minuets of honeymoon left, the cutest couple in the West Wing entered the lobby. They made their way to Sam's office with people yelling congratulations at them. Sam dropped his stuff off and grabbed his note pad for notes before going to the senior staff morning meeting. 

"Ready to go deliver presents?" asked Sam to Ainsley while they walked to the Oval Office.

"Yeah," smiled Ainsley as she held up the shopping bag. "I love giving presents."

"Hey guys! Welcome back," said Charlie. "They are all waiting for you."

Sam and Ainsley said, "Thank you" to Charlie and the three went into the office.

Applause broke out as the couple walked in. The first family, Mrs. Landingham, and all of the Senior Staff were in the office. "Congratulations!" said the President. "You two survived the first week!"

"Thank you," said Sam laughing at the President's joke. "Also, thank you for not calling me for one whole week. Ainsley and I even made a bet on how long it would take for you to call us."

"Who won?" asked Donna.

"I did!" said Ainsley. "I said that you wouldn't call at all. Sam has to get me lunch for a week."

Josh patted Sam's back. "I'm sorry for you, man."

"Well," began Ainsley, "before you begin your meeting, Sam and I wanted to give the gifts out." She reached into the bag handed out the gifts.

Donna opened her box and pulled out a pink long sleeve retro t-shirt with a Minnie Mouse that said "Minnie's Makeover Magic" on it. "I love it!" exclaimed Donna.

CJ held up her own t-shirt similar to Donna's except it was purple and said, "Tink's Drive in Theater". "Thank you guys so much!" said CJ.

Ainsley said, "I have a shirt like you guys, but it's dark blue and has Eyore on it. Oh, and CJ this is also for you," Ainsley said as she gave her another wrapped box that was bigger than the clothes' boxes.

"A Nemo fish bowl decoration set! " smiled CJ. "Gail will love it!"

Josh, Toby, and Charlie opened their gifts. Josh held up a long sleeve t-shirt that was yellow with black sleeves and had "rotten" printed on the front and a villain from one of the Disney movies on the back. "This doesn't mean anything, does it?" asked Josh.

Toby held up is own t-shirt almost like Josh's but it was dark green and said "nasty". "I don't know if I should thank you two," joked Toby.

"Thanks guys," said Charlie with sincerity as he showed everyone his similar shirt that was light blue and said 'evil'.

"Ainsley made me buy one that said 'wicked'," pointed out Sam.

Mrs. Landingham opened her big box next. "Why, a Disney cookie jar! Thank you, Sam and Ainsley. I'll make sure there are always cookies in it for you two." Mrs. Landingham held up her jar for everyone to see. It had Mickey Mouse on it with a jukebox and a U.S. flag.

"We are glad you like it, Mrs. Landingham," smiled Ainsley.

Leo opened his gift. He laughed when he saw a red tie with a Mickeys scattered over it.

Sam said, "We hope you wear it to the next meeting we have with a foreign leader."

The President and First Lady opened their boxes, which were much smaller than the other boxes. "Matching watches!" exclaimed the First Lady. Sam and Ainsley gave watches with Mickey Mouse on the President's and Minnie Mouse on the First Lady. "And our names our on them!" gushed the First Lady even more.

Everyone thanked the newlyweds one last time before Ainsley, Donna, the First Lady, and Mrs. Landingham left so the Senior Staff could get on with their meeting. "Any good honeymoon stories?" asked the First Lady.

"I'll tell you guys later," said Ainsley trying to hide her laughter.


	2. Stories and Secrets

Chapter 2: Stories and Secrets

Married for 1 week 1 day

May

"Okay, Ainsley here's your salad, your tuna sandwich, chocolate milk, vanilla pudding and cookie," said Sam as he laid out the tray in front of Ainsley at The Mess.

"Wow, Ainsley!" said Donna. "You got yourself a bitch. I want one of those."

Sam glared at Donna. "I'm not going to be her bitch after this week."

CJ came up behind Sam. "Of yes you are."

The ladies laughed while Sam just groaned. "I'll see you ladies later. Unlike some people, I have some work to do." And with that, Sam kissed Ainsley then went up his office.

CJ took a seat next to Ainsley. "So tell us some good stories."

"What stories?" asked Ainsley as she poured salad dressing on her salad.

Donna smiled, "Honeymoon stories. Everyone has a good honeymoon story."

"I do have some good ones," smiled Ainsley. "At Disney World, we went on The Pirates ride and this guy he gets on our boat fully dressed and sits a few rows in front of us," began Ainsley. "The ride starts and he is wiggling around and stuff. It so happens that we has taking off his clothes and Sam and I are thinking that there is no way this guy is going to go naked."

"But he does doesn't he!" exclaimed Donna.

"Yeah, but then he jumps out of the boat, takes a quick dip in the water, and jumps back into the boat." Donna and CJ were roaring with laughter. Ainsley finishes the story, "So the guy is in the boat and he actually brought a towel. So he is drying off and puts his clothes back on like nothing happened! He planned the whole thing!"

Donna stopped laughing for a moment to say, "Now this guy isn't really Sam and you are just covering for him, is it?"

Ainsley shook her head, "No. If my Sam that did that, I wouldn't be his wife. Sam did want his autograph though. I'll bring you some pictures of it once I get them developed. "

"Was the guy at least good looking?" asked CJ.

"He was balding, had hair all over his back and was over weight. Not pretty at all."

"That is gross!" said Donna.

CJ wiped her mouth, "Any good stories about you and Sam?"

"Let's see," said Ainsley trying to recall from her memory. "Sam decided not listen to me one day and didn't put on his sun block."

CJ made a face, "He must have gotten a pretty bad sun burn."

Donna giggled, "You guys probably couldn't cuddle for awhile could you?"

"No, we couldn't," blushed Ainsley. "But we did do some really great cuddling the last few nights after our food poisoning passed by."

"You got food poisoning!" gasped the ladies.

"Yeah. Airplane food. Kept us in the hotel room for the first night. Hanging out by the toilet was not our way of having a good honeymoon. But we still went out to see Mickey Mouse and Naked Guy. We were determined to have a good time."

"It sounds like you guys had a good time," said CJ. "I'm so glad we let you go for a week."

Ainsley swallowed a bit from her sandwich. "Yeah, me too. Besides of the bad stuff, we had a great time." Ainsley's train of thought quickly switched gears. "You guys won't happen to know any realtors do you? Sam and I need to find a bigger place."

Donna said, "I still have the number of my realtor from the beginning of the administration. I saved it 'cause I didn't know how long I was going to be here."

"Did you like him?" asked Ainsley.

"Yeah. It's a her and she's pretty good."

CJ said, "Where are you and Sam going to move to?"

"I don't know. We are pretty sure we want to stay in the city since we basically live where we work. We have been living in Sam's apartment since our engagement and we finally have some time to look at houses."

CJ asked, "Sam doesn't want to move back to California?"

Ainsley shook her head. "We haven't considered that option. I think we just want to finish up what we have going on here. Why do you ask?"

CJ said, "I thought maybe he wants to run for Congress or something. Or even you might want to run for something. You would make a great Senator."

Ainsley blushed at the compliment as she opened her pudding. "Sam and I haven't really talked about that stuff."

Donna's cell phone interrupted the conversation with the Christmas tune "Jingle Bells." "Sorry guys," said Donna. "Damn! It's Josh. Yes, Josh? I'm at The Mess… I need to eat… It's on my desk… I did tell you where I was going… It's right by my computer… Under the stapler… I'll be up," said Donna as she flipped her phone closed.

"'Jingle Bells?'" asked Ainsley hiding her laughter. "You do know it's May right?"

Donna rolled her eyes. "Yes, I do know. My niece changed it a long time ago and I never figured out how to change it. Anyway, Josh can't find some file or something so I got to go help him out."

Donna left The Mess and was way out of earshot before CJ said, "Want to know a secret?"

Ainsley pushed her empty tray aside and leaned forward. "Do I ever?"

"They kissed."

Ainsley asked, "Who?"

"Josh and Donna. You know your little plan at your wedding?" Ainsley nodded her head. "It worked."

Ainsley had the biggest smile on her face since the honeymoon. "NO!" She was in complete shock of the news.

"Yes! I caught them at his office after you and Sam left and almost everyone else was gone."

"That is so exciting! Does anyone else know?" asked Ainsley.

"Just me and you."

"They haven't-"

"-I don't think they had sex yet."

"Wow," said Ainsley a little dazed.

"Yeah. I know."

Ainsley was finishing her last spoon for pudding. "Well I hate to leave you, but I'm out of stories and I can hear the papers on my desk calling my name."

"Mine are yelling at me too. I'll see you later," said CJ.


	3. Deals

Chapter 3: Deals

Married for 1 month

June

"That's all for today," announced the President as he stood up from the couch in the Oval Office. "I hope to see everyone at the staff picnic next week."

Everyone in the office groaned. Josh said, "I'm sorry, Sir, but I believe that Donna put me in a meeting all day. I don't think I'll be able to make it this year."

"That's bull Joshua!" snapped the President half jokingly. "Since when did you start to remember when had a scheduled meeting? Nice try getting out of that one. I'll see everyone there next week."

"Thank you, Mr. President," replied the staff as the exited the office.

CJ smiled at Josh and said gleefully, "And you owe all of us a drink tonight."

Sam saw Ainsley pass in the hall. "Ains! We are going to go out for drinks tonight."

"Why?" questioned Ainsley as she thought about what kind of drink she wanted.

Toby answered for Sam. "Josh made a bet with the staff that he would be able to get out of the staff picnic next week. Turns out he lost and he owes everyone a drink tonight."

"Sounds good," said Ainsley as she wrapped her arm around Sam's and followed him to his office.

Sam closed his office door. "How's your day going?"

"Alright. And you?"

"Great," replied Sam as he leaned in to kiss her pink lips.

"Hmm…" sighed Ainsley as they broke the kiss. "Donna gave me her realtor's business card," she said as she pulled it out of her folder. "And is there anyway we can get out of this picnic?"

Sam glanced at the card and put it next to his phone. "Nope. Everyone has tried everything in the past to get out of it, but the President always gets his way."

The annual staff picnic takes place every June. President Bartlet started the tradition during his first year when he saw his staff was under an extreme amount of stress, he planned a half day for them complete with carnival rides, a dunking tank to dunk whomever you like, and plenty of food. Sure, all of that sounds like fun- unless you're being dunked- but the one big reason why the staff never wants to go is because of the talent show.

"Do you have a talent yet?" asked Ainsley.

"No and probably the same with the rest of the staff. They usually make something up an hour before," replied Sam. "You?"

"No idea," sighed Ainsley.

"Well CJ always has 'The Jackal' incase she can't find something."

Ainsley face light up and her blue eyes popped. "Let's 'do a CJ' and lip-sync to something!"

"Let's?" questioned Sam with a worried look on his face. "I'm not a rock star and lip-syncing isn't a talent."

Ainsley was a smiling, "But we should do it."

"No," said Sam rather quickly.

"Sa-am…"

"Not happening, Ainsley."

Ainsley twirled a piece of her shimmering blonde hair around her fingers and pouted. "For me? Please? You can pick the song."

Sam thought about it for a second. "You'll do any song I pick?"

Ainsley hesitated. "Maybe?"

"Nope, I won't do it."

Ainsley sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll do any song. Just remember that I am your wife and I can withhold sex."

Sam nodded his head and agreed. "Shake hands?" asked Sam as he held out his hand across his desk.

Ainsley shook his hand before Sam leaned forward and kissed her. "That was very nice, Mr. Seaborn. I have to get back to work now."

"See you later."

* * *

That night, Sam and Ainsley were reading work papers and watching the news in their big bed when an amazing idea came into Ainsley's head. "I got it," she said. 

"You got what?" asked Sam without bothering to look up from his papers.

"We are going to lip sync to 'We Go Together.'"

"'We Go Together'?"

"From 'Grease.'"

"No," replied Sam as he looked back at his papers.

"Why not? The whole staff could do it! We could get really cute costumes and make up some dance moves."

"I thought you said that I could pick the song."

Ainsley thought of something to negotiate with. "How about if we do the song with costumes, at the costume shop you can pick out one very nice outfit for me to wear at home?" winked Ainsley.

"Five outfits," came back Sam.

Ainsley stayed firm with her offer. "One."

"Three then," said Sam.

"Deal. Three."

"Kiss on it?" asked Sam as he leaned in and Ainsley sweetly obliged.

"You know what we should do?" asked Ainsley.

Sam looked back at his work. "What?"

"Josh and Donna should be John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John."

"Is this part of your plan of getting them together?"

"Yes… Or you and I could be John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John."

"Josh and Donna would be perfect in that case," smiled Sam. "And since this whole thing was your idea, you have to tell everyone about it."

"Sam!" Ainsley playfully hit his arm.

"What! It was your idea after all."

"But you have to be there with me."

Sam thought about his wife's proposal. "Ahh…No."

"Why not?" she looked sternly at him.

"'Cause everyone will kill me, except maybe Donna and CJ. Maybe you just do something with them."

"But then what would you do?"

"I don't know."

"You aren't getting out of this, Mr. Seaborn. Would you be there with me? Please?"

Sam sighed. How could he say no to the face she was giving him? "Okay, but once you tell them and before they can process it fully, I'm booking' out of there."

"Deal."


	4. The Staff Picnic

Chapter 4: The Staff Picnic

AU: This chapter is mostly about JD with not too much SA. Feedback would be really nice!

Married for 1 month 1 week

It was a pleasant June day with a little breeze in the air and the humidity was surprisingly low. The President couldn't have asked for much better weather for his annual Staff Picnic. The farris wheel had been spinning all day and the fried food could be smelled miles away. The sun was starting to go down and the staff talent show was about to start. While the President was feeling pretty confident about singing a Frank Sinatra song, the staff was in Ainsley's office stressing over their act. Luckily for Ainsley, she made a batch of chocolate chip muffins so there wasn't a reason for anyone to hate the Seaborns for forcing them into their lip-syncing act.

"Now which one of these costumes is mine?" questioned a grumpy Toby as he looked around the office that was filled with '50s style costumes.

Ainsley and Donna sorted through the piles of clothes. "Here it is!" said Donna and handed the leather jacket to Toby. "And Josh, here's your sweater."

"Thanks, Donna," replied Josh as their hands briefly touched together.

The women shooed the men off so they could curl Donna's hair and try out their pink jackets. Ainsley, dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, sat on her desk with a margarita in her hand. CJ began to heat up the hair rollers. "So what's up Donna?" asked Ainsley.

Donna was sitting in a chair in the middle of the office. "Oh, just the usual. Lots of work, no time for anything else."

"Sounds a lot like my life," commented CJ.

Ainsley was trying to get Donna to open up about her and Josh's relationship. "So no new boyfriends?"

Donna's cheeks turned a rosy red. "I-I, no not really."

CJ brushed Donna's hair out and began to but the rollers in. "I should introduce to my college friend Robert. I think he might actually be in town next month."

Donna stuttered even more. "Oh. Um... No, no thanks, CJ."

"Aww, why not Donna?" asked Ainsley. She knew she was getting closer to the truth about her and Josh.

"I'm just-just taking a break from dating right now I guess." Donna quickly changed to subject. "Ains, did you call that realtor that I recommended?"

"Yes. Sam called her a few days ago. We are going to meet with her next week," said a disappointed Ainsley. She was so close to getting Donna to admit about her secret relationship with Josh.

"Do you want to stay in the city still?" asked Donna.

"Yeah. We need want a bigger place, but we don't want to go too far away from work."

CJ hinted to Ainsley, "A bigger place with a nursery so Aunt CJ can come and visit her niece or nephew?"

"Yes, maybe with a nursery."

Donna's eyes got really big. "Whoa! You aren't pregnant now are you?"

Ainsley almost spit out her margarita. "No! Plus I was drinking alcohol!"

"Okay," said Donna. "Just checking… OW! CJ!"

"Sorry, Donna. I'm almost done. Just a few more left."

Donna turned to Ainsley and asked, "So how many are you going to have?"

"How many what?"

Donna smiled. "Kids. You guys should have lots!"

Ainsley blushed some more and began to talk a mile and minuet. "Sam and I haven't talked about how many. My own mother wants lots, even though she has two already and Sam's mother wants lots too. But they're the grandmas so the number of grandkids they want should be lots."

"-Ainsley?" said Donna. Both Donna and CJ looked at her like she had gone crazy.

"Sorry. My mind kinda wandered there. Wait, is there a pool going around on the amount of kids I'm going to pop out?"

"Not yet," said CJ, "but we should!"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Donna. "Let me know when you start it."

"How much more time do I have left?" asked CJ as she rolled a some hair around a roller.

"The men are suppose to tell us," answered Ainsley.

"I still can't believe you and Sam made me, Sandy and Josh, Danny," complained Donna as she pointed to Ainsley. "I don't see why you and Sam couldn't be the leads."

CJ put in the last curler. "Oh, but it's more fun this way." CJ winked behind Donna to Ainsley. CJ had figured Ainsley and Sam's plan out and knew how badly Ainsley wanted Donna to admit that she was dating Josh. "Okay Sandy, you're done. Just try not to move around too much."

Ainsley grabbed her pink jacket that she rented from the costume shop and her own black jeans. "Well I'm going to go change."

CJ grabbed her costume too. "I'll go with you. Donna, don't move!"

CJ left with Ainsley leaving Donna in the basement all by herself. After a few minuets, Donna pulled out her cell phone called Josh. "Josh, Ainsley knows."

_"Hang, on."_

Donna heard a door shut. _"Okay, what did you say?"_

"Ainsley knows and if Ainsley knows, probably Sam knows too."

_"Knows what, Donna?"_

"About us! That we are dating." Donna could hear Josh sigh over the phone.

_"How do they know?"_

"It's a small world. You didn't say anything to Sam did you?"

_"No. Did you say anything to Ainsley?"_

Donna rubbed her forehead with hand. "She tried to get me to admit to it, but I didn't."

_"Should we tell them?"_

"Not yet," said Donna. "I'm not ready and not everyone thinks something is going on between us."

_"So we should act normal until more people think something is going on?"_

"Yeah. I guess." There was a slight pause over the phone. "Where are you anyway?"

_"I'm in my office. Toby and Sam were outside my door. I think they left. Will I see you tonight?"_

"Hmm… What do you have in mind?"

_"Coffee and cookies in my office?"_

"Sounds good," said Donna, as she laughed silently to herself. For the past month they've been dating, they haven't gone out public yet. Donna heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "CJ and Ainsley are coming back. Act normal. Don't tell anyone. Bye."

CJ and Ainsley made an entrance through the door. "How do we look?" asked CJ as she struck a pose.

"Just fabulous!" laughed Donna.

"Sam called me and said we have 15 more minuets," said Ainsley.

* * *

"Now, it's the act that everyone has been waiting for!" announced Leo. "Lip-syncing to the song 'You're the One I Want' from 'Grease', it's CJ Cregg, Ainsley Hayes, Josh Lyman, Donna Moss, Sam Seaborn, and Toby Ziegler!" 

"Oh, God. Here we go," said Toby as he stepped out on stage. Toby was able to work something out with the group so he could just sit the whole time and not dance… even if it meant buying drinks for everyone.

The music started and they began their dance. Donna made her entrance at the right moment and Josh threw off his sweater at the right time. Sam and Josh did get into it once they were on stage, but Toby was still Toby. Although Sam was pretty close to breaking a bone, no one took a spill or broke anything. The crowd went crazy and the song ended with them wanting more. Toby won the prize for most energetic (which was a joke) and the whole crew won for best idea.

After winning, Sam told Ainsley that her idea was pretty amazing.

Ainsley looked into his eyes and said, "You know, you were awesome up there?"

"You weren't too bad yourself," replied Sam as he clutched her hand to walk her to the car.

"Are you tired?"

"I'm okay. Why?"

Ainsley ran her fingers her hair. "Oh, I just thought that maybe I could try on that special outfit you picked out for me at the costume shop."

Sam broke into a grin and kissed her forehead. "Sounds good to me."


	5. House Hunting

Chapter 5: House Hunting

Married 1 month 2 weeks

June

"What if she's just bad and we never find a house?"

"Sam! Stop saying, 'what if.' Donna recommended her and she is living in a nice place. I'm sure she can't be _that_ bad," said Ainsley. She and Sam were driving to meet Donna's old realtor. The couple couldn't stand to live in their one bedroom apartment anymore. "Why are you thinking so negative today?"

"I don't know…"

"Sam?" Ainsley could see something was clearly bothering him.

"It's our first big investment… You know… together."

Ainsley tried to reassure him that everything was going to be fine. "The most horrible thing that could happen is that we won't find a place that fits our budget."

"You mean our extremely small budget?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant," said Ainsley as she rolled her eyes. "Except you know, if you would let loose and splurge a little, it wouldn't be such a small budget."

"My budget plan is practical."

"Like your celestial navigation?" joked Ainsley.

"We agreed last night that will wait to have kids after we leave the White House, which means we don't need the three bedroom house with a backyard. We also wanted to stay in D.C. to be close to work so we can't move out of the city where the houses become a little cheaper. In addition to those reasons, we are not sure what to do once the President ends his second terms thus it isn't practical to buy something expensive that we would only live in for three or less years."

Ainsley huffed. "You didn't have to turn it into a speech."

"Is this the realtor's office?" asked Sam as he slowly drove passed a building.

"Umm… Yeah."

Sam parked the car and pulled out his briefcase. "Here we go."

* * *

"Well, today was a wasted day," grumbled Sam as he and Ainsley entered their small apartment. It was only six o'clock but the couple was exhausted from looking at apartments and condos that were either too dirty, too small, or required too much work. 

"I'm sure we'll find something eventually," said Ainsley trying her best to be cheerful.

"Did you like anything we saw today?"

Ainsley flopped on the couch and sighed. "Nope. Let's call for Chinese." Ainsley picked up the phone and dialed for take-out while Sam checked his messages. "It should be here in half an hour," said Ainsley as she hung up the phone.

"Do you think we should switch realtors?"

Now Ainsley was starting to get annoyed. "It's the first day. Besides, if we don't find a place, our only lost is that we have to keep living here."

"You're right," grumbled Sam.

"I'm sorry what did you say?"

Sam sighed knowing that Ainsley was just teasing him. "I said that you were right."

Ainsley smiled very proudly. "I thought so."

* * *

It had been a few days since Sam and Ainsley's house hunting trip with the realtor. The couple was coming home late at night from a very long day at work. 

"I'm pooped," said Ainsley as she barely made up the stairs to the third floor.

When they came to their apartment, they noticed the neighbor's door was wide open and they were packing some boxes. Sam and Ainsley peaked in to say hello to the elderly couple. Sam stayed to talk while Ainsley went to their apartment to make a late dinner.

Sam eventually came in and asked, "What are we having?" He came behind Ainsley and wrapped his arms around her while she crunched the lettuce.

"Taco salad. What were the Greene's up to?" asked Ainsley.

Sam let her go so he could set the table. "They are retiring to Florida. They move in two days."

"I didn't know they were moving. They are such nice people." Ainsley brought the salad over and both took a seat at the table. "Did they sell their place yet?"

"No. Not yet."

"They were really good neighbors. Nice and quiet."

They both ate their salad quietly for a bit. Sam broke the silence when he asked, "Have you noticed anything strange with Josh lately?"

"No. Why?"

"He keeps telling me where he's going."

"What's so wrong about that?"

"The other day, he told me he was going to get some lunch. And then he continued to tell me exactly where he was going to and that he was going to be alone with no one from work. But then he added that Donna was going to be eating lunch with Carol at her desk."

Ainsley had then figured out that Josh was trying to hide his relationship with Donna from Sam. "That is quite suspicious," she pointed out almost sarcastically.

Sam looked at Ainsley. "Do you know something I don't?"

Ainsley smiled. "What makes you think that?"

"Since we are married, you would tell me if you know something about Josh that I didn't, right?"

"Of course," said Ainsley before she put the fork full of lettuce in her mouth. She knew Sam wouldn't be able to keep the Josh and Donna secret for long so it was best to not tell him.

Suddenly, a crazy idea popped into Ainsley's head. "What if we bought their apartment?" she abruptly blurted out. The unexpected question left Sam without words. Ainsley tried again. "What if we bought the Greene's apartment?"

"Then we would have two apartments that are still too small for us," said Sam simply stating the obvious.

"Yes, but Sam it's quite practical now that I think about it." Sam was still baffled, but Ainsley continued to try to make sense of her idea. "See, we can move some stuff over there and make the bedroom an office or something. Oh! And then we would have _two_ kitchens!" Ainsley's face lit up.

Sam put down his fork. "Ainsley-"

"Sam, just think about it. I'm sure the super wouldn't mind. He likes us. Plus, we won't be committing ourselves to something since we don't know what will happen once the President is out of office. Now we won't have to deal with moving trucks and having our address changed on everything. We would just have to pay the rent twice. We can afford it."

Sam sighed. "I'll think about it."

"While you think about it, I'm going to keep convincing you that this investment would be for the better." And so, Ainsley kept on talking about the idea of having two apartments until they went to bed.


	6. Admitting

Chapter 6: Admitting

AN: I know lots of you want more S/A, but here is the last big J/D story for a while!

Married 1 month 3 weeks

June

"Hey, Donna," said a cheery Ainsley as she approached her desk.

"Hi, Ains," said Donna. She began to clear her desk to make room for Ainsley and her lunch. "How's the house search going?"

"We stopped," said Ainsley. Donna's face was full of confusion. "See, our next door neighbors are moving to Florida and I convinced Sam to buy it."

Donna was still baffled. "So you are going to have two apartments?"

Ainsley saw that she would have to explain her two apartments plan to Donna. "Yeah. The other apartment would be like our work area and place to keep off seasoned clothes and stuff. The super and apartment owners agreed to let us have it." Clearly, Ainsley was very excited and couldn't stop talking about her new living area. "But the best part is we are allowed to add a door way between the two apartments and we get a discount on the rent."

"Put a guest bedroom in there for me."

"I'm sure I can talk Sam into it," laughed Ainsley. "So what's up with you?"

"Oh, you know, same old, same old."

"Really?" Ainsley was _still_ trying to get Donna to break open about her relationship with Josh.

Donna knew that Ainsley had figured out her secret with Josh out and she was coming to the point where she really wanted to talk to some about it. "Are you going to be home tonight?" asked Donna.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I'll call you around 9:30," said Donna casually.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. You know _it_ anyway," said Donna. She looked straight into Ainsley's eyes. Ainsley caught the message that Donna knew that she knew about her and Josh.

"I'm really happy for you," said Ainsley as the two continued with their lunch.

* * *

It was past dinner, which meant that Sam and Ainsley were allowed to debate. The couple set a rule that the only time they were allowed to debate at home was from after dinner to an hour before they go to bed. That way, they can eat and sleep without being mad at each other. Their debate tonight was about taxes and of course, Ainsley was winning. 

"Don't you want to choose where your money goes?" said Ainsley using her lawyer tone of voice. Sam tried to get a word in but Ainsley kept on talking. "Americans should be able to choose where their hard earned money goes. With an increase in taxes, more American families will be hurt instead of helped."

Sam was left speech less until the phone rang. "Hello?… She's right here." Donna had called for Ainsley, but Sam was thanking his lucky stars for getting him out of a debate that he was seriously loosing in.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Ains. It's me," came Donna's voice from the other line of the phone.

"Hey, Donna! Hang on." Ainsley went to the bedroom to get away from Sam. "Okay."

"So how did you find out?"

"Find out what?"

"About me and Josh!"

"You're dating Josh!" Ainsley kept her voice down so Sam couldn't hear. "I had no idea," she joked.

"Ainsley! I know you know!"

"Yes, I do know. About time too."

"How did you find out? We have been working very hard trying to keep everything under wraps."

"I'm not the only one that knows. CJ saw you guys kissing after the wedding and she told me."

Donna gasped, "CJ knows!"

"Yes. But don't worry, the rest of the staff has no clue."

"Have you told Sam yet?"

"Sam has no idea. Except that Josh keeps doing these things where he would drop hints to Sam to show that he's single."

"I'll talk to him about that," laughed Donna.

"So now that you admitted that Josh is your boyfriend what is he like?"

Donna cheeks flushed to a nice rosy pink. "He's great. He really is."

"That's all I'm going to get! Just, 'he's great'?" Ainsley couldn't believe that she kept this secret for so long and she wasn't getting any juicy information.

Donna tried to defend herself. "Sorry, but until I find out where this relationship is going, yeah Ains, that's all the info that you are getting."

"You two haven't done anything scandalous yet, have you?"

"Scandalous as in sex?"

Ainsley rolled her eyes. "Of course I mean sex!"

"No. Not yet."

"Really? I thought for sure you guys would do it by the first date."

"Yeah, see we really haven't had a date either."

"What!" Ainsley was shocked and nearly fell off the bed.

"We are so scared of having a reporter see us at a restaurant or me leaving his place."

Ainsley didn't know what to think of this news. "So answer me this; if you haven't had a date or sex, what have you done that shows that you are a couple?"

"Umm…" Donna took a moment to think of an answer that would satisfy Ainsley enough so she wouldn't have a follow up question. "We kiss a lot. We stay late a few nights a week and I bring him coffee."

"-You bring him coffee!" Ainsley got a little too excited.

"As I was saying, I bring him coffee and he supplies some kind of dessert and we would talk and yeah, that's about it," said Donna as she realized how unromantic her life is.

"You two need to go on a date."

"Believe me Ainsley, I want a date too. But what would the country think if I'm sleeping with my boss who is much older than me?"

Ainsley took that question as chance to offer her good friend some advice. "You live life once. Donna, sometimes to you need put politics aside and do what you want. That's what Sam and I did and if you want your relationship to go anywhere, you need to do that too." Ainsley could hear a sigh over the phone. "If you are scared about being seen in public, talk to CJ or Leo and get their advice or permission. I'm sure they won't be mad that you two are dating."

Donna soaked up Ainsley's advice. "Thanks. And can you do me a favor? Don't tell Sam. That husband of yours can't keep a secret."

Ainsley smiled. "Sam doesn't have a clue."


	7. Heat

Chapter 7: Heat

Married 2 months

Ainsley woke up bright and early on what would turn out to be, one of the hottest days of the summer. Although the sun was she peaking out, the temperature was already rising. It was the 4th of July that meant the staff would have a light day plus time to enjoy the fireworks at night.

A sleepy Sam walked in with nothing but his boxers on. "I thought I smelled something good."

"I figured I would make a nice big breakfast today," beamed Ainsley.

Sam stopped and leaned against the wall while Ainsley kept on cooking the eggs. "Really? What's the occasion?"

Ainsley's face fell. "No reason." Sam knew she was clearly upset about something.

He smiled. "You thought I forgot didn't you? You thought I forgot our third anniversary since our first date."

Ainsley let out a sigh of relief. "No, I didn't." She didn't want her husband to think he was right.

Sam laughed and went over to her. "Yes, you did."

Ainsley stopped cooking eggs and turned around so their hips just touched each other. "No, I didn't"

Sam leaned down to kiss her nose. "It's okay to say that I'm right, Mrs. Seaborn."

Ainsley rolled her eyes and thought about how cute he looked in the morning. "Okay, I thought you forgot. Now kiss me." And Sam kissed her for quite a long time.

000000

It was around lunchtime at the West Wing. Sam and Toby were finishing the President's speech while everyone else did basically nothing.

"Hey Sam!" called out Josh from Sam's doorway. "I'm going to go get lunch- alone of course. Want to come?" Josh wanted to point out that Donna wasn't coming with him to try to hide their growing relationship.

"Can't. I have to finish this speech."

"Right. Well, I'm going to go by myself and get something to eat. No one else I know is coming along."

Sam was getting confused at why Josh made such a huge emphasis on the fact that he was getting lunch alone. "Do you need me to go with you?"

Josh shook his head. "No. Just letting you know that I'm going by myself."

"Bye," replied Sam as Josh left.

Now Ainsley appeared at his door. "Hi, Sam."

"Yes, Ainsley?"

"I'm just coming to say 'hi'." Sam nodded his head and then looked back at his computer. "I have nothing to do," said Ainsley as she flopped in a chair.

"I can see." Sam was still typing at his computer.

Ainsley just sat in the silence for a while. "What do you think about painting the living room a nice light brown or beige?"

"Sounds good." Sam still didn't look up from his computer.

Ainsley sat in the chair admiring her man who was very preoccupied with his work. "Busy aren't you?" asked Ainsley, simply stating the obvious.

"Yes, Ainsley as much as I would love to talk with my adorable wife, I have this speech to finish by 2."

Ainsley nodded her head as if she understood how busy her husband was. "Since you added 'adorable' in there, I'm going to let you go." Ainsley exited the office while Sam kept typing fiercely at the keyboard.

CJ's voice could be heard from the hall as she approached Sam's office. "Hey there, Ains. Sam!"

Sam groaned as he saw CJ pop into his office. "What could you possibly want that's more important than this speech that I have to finish in 2 hours?"

"Someone's a little sour today." Sam didn't look pleased by CJ's comment. "Well then, since someone isn't really in the mood to talk, I'm just going to give you these tickets that would get you and your wife into the 4th of July party tonight and I'll get on my way."

"Thank you, CJ, but you didn't think for a second about giving these to Ainsley when you just passed her in the hall?"

CJ paused. "Nope. You want me to go chase after her?"

"You know I'll loose them."

"Yes, you will loose them when you trip over a box or something." Once again, Sam wasn't pleased with CJ's comment. "I'm going to go."

"Can you close the door when you leave?"

"Certainly. Later Spanky."

000000

Later that evening, after the heat died down and the fireworks were over, the Seaborns left the party for home.

"It was a nice night," commented Ainsley from the car.

"Yes, it was. Except for the heat."

"I like the heat. Reminds me of North Carolina. Plus, heat is very sexy."

Sam asked "How's that?"

Ainsley laughed. "I don't know. Heat can be steamy and sweaty and hot."

"Republicans sure think differently."

Ainsley looked over at Sam to give him a dirty look. "Sam, it's our third anniversary. Do you want to rephrase what you just said?"

Sam was at a lost of words for a minuet, but manage to get it out. "What I, your dear husband, meant to say was that you, Ainsley, my incredible, passionate, hot, wife, sure thinks differently."

"Nice job."

Sam parked the car by their apartment building. They both climbed up the stairs and entered their home. Once they opened the door, waves of heat came out from their residence.

"Ugh. It's so hot in here!" cried out Ainsley. "Is the A.C. broken again?"

Sam checked the thermostat. "Looks like it." Sam snorted. "You did just say heat is sexy."

"I did," smiled Ainsley. She walked over to her husband and kissed him. "How about we open some wine and celebrate our anniversary?"

"Sounds good," said Sam as he began to kiss his wife and lead her to the bedroom.

On July 4th, the Sam and Ainsley, the Democrat and Republican, made love like they have never had before. And although they wouldn't find out for a few more weeks, they had conceived a baby on the night of their third anniversary.


	8. April 6th

Chapter 8: April 6th

Married 3 monthsand 1 week

August

"Ainsley! Everything okay!" shouted Sam from the living room to his wife in the bathroom.

"I'm great! I love spending my day off puking by the toilet." Ainsley emerged from the bathroom with a towel to her mouth. "I'm sorry I'm in a bad mood. I must have caught something at my meeting the other day."

Sam kept his distance by staying in the living room, "Don't worry about it. I can move the rest of the boxes." Sam and Ainsley were moving some belongings to the other apartment.

Ainsley gave him a weak smile. "I'm going to go sleep," she said and disappeared into the bedroom.

Ainsley slept well into the afternoon and still wasn't feeling better. Sam figured that he should be a man and tell a woman what she cannot do. "You're not going to work tomorrow," he declared.

"Sam, I have things to do, people to see. One day of missed work will put me behind for a month!" pleaded Ainsley.

"You are in no condition. You would have to run to the bathroom every 10 minutes."

"No. I'll take it easy. I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow."

The next morning…

"Sam! I can't go to work today!" cried out Ainsley from the bathroom. Sam was standing on the other side of the door, but Ainsley could still see the smirk on his face. "I absolutely hate it when you are right!"

Sam tied his tie. "I'll tell them that you won't be able to come in today," he said.

"I'm going to try to come in later."

"If you are tired and sick, stay home and get better. I'm coming in to brush my teeth." Sam came into the bathroom and found Ainsley kneeling on the floor by the toilet.

Ainsley looked up. "We have two apartments, which also means that we have two bathrooms. You couldn't use the other one?"

Sam simply said, "My tooth brush is in here, and did you hear me about not over doing it?"

Ainsley rolled her eyes. "Yes, Sam. I'll only come in if I feel up to it."

"You should see a doctor," said Sam as he squeezed some toothpaste on his brush.

Ainsley was now back in bed and turned the TV on. "I'll call tomorrow if this thing hasn't gone away. And if Babish happens to give you any papers for me, please bring them home this time." Sam mumbled something with the toothbrush in his mouth. "I know you wanted me to not worry about work, but I am perfectly capable of doing a few things from home." The couple was referring to the last time Ainsley was sick and Sam didn't want to bother her with papers from work, so he basically didn't bring them home to her.

Sam was now spitting out the toothpaste. "I'll bring things home. If this thing gets worse, call me." He walked over to his wife.

"Okay. Call me when you get to work," said Ainsley, staring at Sam with her clear blue eyes.

"Love you." Sam kissed her forehead and then headed out to work.

* * *

It was around three when Ainsley was feeling almost up to her normal self and came into work. She made a stop at Sam's office before heading down to her own. "Hey, Sam. I made it in." 

Sam got up behind his desk to give her a kiss and hug. "How do you feel?"

"My stomach has seemed to calm down so I could eat a little, but I'm sore. Probably from lifting boxes."

Sam nodded his head like he understood. "Did you call the doctor's yet?"

"Tomorrow at nine."

"In the evening?"

"Morning. I'll take a taxi or something."

"I'll drive you," offered Sam.

"No. You have too much work."

"Right. Well it's Monday and I have some meetings and memos to look at, but call me if you would like me to take you home."

"Okay."

"And go see Donna. She's been wondering about you."

Ainsley went on her tiptoes to kiss Sam. "I will. Have fun at your meetings."

* * *

It had been about 2 months since Donna fully admitted to Ainsley that she was dating Josh. Now she had to admit to CJ that they were dating, which shouldn't be hard since CJ was the one who saw them kissing in the hall. "Hey, CJ." 

"Donna. What's up? Come have a seat."

Donna paused for a minute, not quite sure where to start. She took a deep breath and then blurted it out. "Josh and I are dating and I'm telling you because you are our first call."

CJ stared at Donna, replaying what she was just told in her head. "You're dating Josh?"

"Yes, and according to Ainsley, you already know."

"It's about time Ainsley made you crack open and got you to admit," laughed CJ.

"I knew she knew that one day at the staff picnic when you were doing my hair. I'm not that dense," joked Donna. "I also want to say thanks for not telling anyone- except for Ainsley."

CJ gave Donna as assuring smile. "Maybe next time you guys kiss, don't do it in the middle of the hallway."

Donna laughed. "We only do it in his office after everyone is gone."

"'It'?"

"We haven't had sex yet. Just little dates in his office."

CJ was just as shocked as Ainsley to find out that Donna and Josh hadn't had sex let alone, been on a real date. "Let me get this straight? You just go into his office and… talk?"

"That's exactly right."

"Is that your choice or his?"

Donna thought about the question. "I'll say it's mutual."

"Do you want to go on a real date with Josh? And I mean a real date. None of this 'only in the office' stuff."

"Yeah, CJ. A real date sounds nice," said Donna.

"What's holding you two back?"

"The press. What would they do once they find out that a senior staff member is sleeping with his assistant?"

"How about this, talk to Josh and plan a date and because you were good and came to me first, I will handle the press. Just don't do anything stupid and tell your parents soon."

Carol knocked on the door then proceeded to enter. "Ainsley is here."

"Bring her in," said CJ.

"Hi, ladies."

"Are you sure you should be here?" asked CJ. "Sam said you were really sick."

"I'm feeling 80 better."

"I just told her," said Donna to Ainsley.

"And how does it feel to come clean with your deepest darkest secret?"

"I think 'deepest darkest secret' is a little too far," said Donna. She began to crack a smile, "but it feel great."

* * *

The next day, after Ainsley's doctor's appointment, she took her time going back to the White House to reflect on what the doctor had told her and to buy Sam some lunch. The more she thought, she realized how she overlooked a lot of signs that most pregnant women face; missed her period, fatigue, nausea, boobs sore… If she actually paid attention to her symptoms, she could have just diagnosed herself instead of spending half her day at the doctor's office. 

As she entered the White House, Sam was walking with Toby and Ginger back to the bullpen. Sam spotted Ainsley as she checked in with security. "Ains!"

"Hi, Sam, Toby, Ginger." Toby and Ginger said "hello" then turned down a different hallway.

"How are you?" asked Sam.

"I'm good. And you?" replied Ainsley with a smile.

"It's an easy day today. Is that your lunch or mine?" asked Sam.

"Yours." Sam noticed Ainsley was beaming about something, but just wasn't sure why.

The two had entered the bullpen. "You look pretty happy for someone who had to go to the doctor's today."

"Yeah, well, at least I know what I have."

"That's good. So if that's my lunch, where's yours?" asked Sam. By now they were standing outside Sam's office.

"I'm not hungry." Everyone in the room stopped doing their work and looked at Ainsley. Donna and Josh, who happened to be the bullpen, discontinued their banter (or flirting). Even Sam was stunned to hear that she wasn't hungry. Ainsley could have announced that she switched to the Democratic Party and this statement would still be bigger. There was an awkward silence before Ainsley tried to correct herself. "I-I meant was that I ate before I came, but I'm still going to pick at your food." And with those words, the White House returned to normalcy.

The couple entered Sam's office and closed the door. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great," smiled Ainsley with excitement.

"What did the doctor have to say?" asked Sam.

"I'm going to be fine."

Sam looked at her puzzled. "Did you tell the doctor that you have been exhausted for a week and been waking up next to the toilet?"

Ainsley was still smiling. "Yes, Sam. I told him."

Sam took a seat near the door and Ainsley followed. "And did you tell him your appetite has changed?"

"I'm just not hungry right now."

"Did he give you anything to take?"

"Yes, and I took one pill already."

Sam put his fork down and leaned back in his chair. "Why are you so happy?"

Ainsley was too excited to keep her secret for any longer. "I have morning sickness." She was still smiling.

"How much longer will you have it?" Clearly Sam wasn't familiar with pregnancy and childbirth.

"Until April 6th," said Ainsley casually. Sam gasped. "The doctor said it would go away in a few months."

Sam shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "You will have this morning sickness until April, but it will go away soon…"

Ainsley rubbed her forehead. "Morning sickness is a common symptom with pregnant women." Now Sam's jaw dropped. Ainsley waited a moment before saying very slowly, "Do you understand me?"

Now Sam was beaming. "Ainsley, are you pregnant?"

"Gosh, I think he got it!"

Sam jumped out of his chair. "You're going to have a baby?"

"Around April 6th, we're going to have a baby."


	9. Just Between Us

Chapter 9: Just Between Us

Married for 3 months and 1 week

August

Ainsley had just told Sam that they were expecting their first baby after only four months of marriage and Sam couldn't be more thrilled. "Ainsley, this is great! This is fantastic! I need to sit down." Sam slowly sat down in one of the chairs and Ainsley in the other. Both had gigantic smiles on their faces.

"I know it is so sudden and unexpected…." Ainsley had seemed to ramble on while Sam just sat and soaked up the news. "I mean we have barley time for each other, but now we are going to be parents! And all of the marriage books out there say that you shouldn't have a baby right away because it could but a huge strain on the marriage, but I think- oh my God, I'm going to be a parent!"

"I'm going to be a dad… And-and you're going to be a mom!" It had also occurred to Sam that he was going to be a parent.

Ainsley grasped Sam's hands. "I'm going to be a mom." By now, tears were streaming down her face- and a few down Sam's.

Sam poked at Ainsley's belly. "It's in there, right? I mean, the baby, it's right there?" Ainsley was so overjoyed; she could only nod her head. Sam said in amazement, "Our kid is right there."

Ainsley put her hand over Sam's. "We're having a baby," said Ainsley.

"I can't believe this." He kissed her just for the hell of it.

"We're having a baby," was all Ainsley could say.

"God, I love you so much."

"Are you happy?"

"Look at me, Ains. I'm ecstatic!"

There was a knock at the door and Bonnie stuck her head in. "Senator Grissom is on the phone."

"I'll have to call him back," said Sam. Bonnie shut the door with curiosity to what the couple could possibly be talking about.

Ainsley was starting to calm down and the tears had stopped. "You're okay about this? It's pretty sudden."

The whole time, neither one could wipe the grins off their faces. "Yeah. I guess we'll just have to take the spud."

"Spud?"

"Yeah. Spud. We'll just have to take the little guy," joked Sam.

"Or girl."

"We'll just call the baby Spud for now."

Ainsley giggled and kissed Sam. "Well Spud gave us quite a surprise. It's not like we are really prepared or planned on having a kid now."

"We'll be okay," sighed Sam. He leaned his forehead against hers. "We have ten months to prepare."

Ainsley pulled back to look at Sam. "Nine months," she corrected him. "We only have nine months to prepare."

"Really? I thought it was ten."

"Nine."

"I have some research to do."

"Well really eight months since I'm six weeks along," said Ainsley as she did the math in her head.

"We can do it."

"Of course we can do it. We'll be super parents."

"We'll be the best parents around the beltway," laughed Sam.

"And Spud will run around the halls of the bullpen."

"And the President can put him to sleep with trivia."

"You mean her," corrected Ainsley.

"I meant Spud."

"Sam," said Bonnie as she interrupted them again. "Bob Arbor is on the phone."

"Tell him I'll call back." Bonnie began to close the door before Sam stopped her. "And Bonnie, I'm not taking phone calls right now."

Once Bonnie left Ainsley asked Sam, "When do you think it happened?"

Sam let out a light laugh. "Two weeks ago was pretty nice night."

"It couldn't have been two weeks ago. I'm six weeks pregnant."

"Then it would have been the 4th of July."

Ainsley smiled. "That night was amazing."

"If it's a girl, we should name her July."

"July Seaborn?"

"It's okay," shrugged Sam.

Ainsley didn't quite agree with the name. "Let's think about names some other time."

Bonnie appeared at the door again. "You have a meeting about the New York Trip in five minutes."

"Thank you, Bonnie," said Sam. "We should call your mom."

He was about to pick up the phone when Ainsley stopped him. "Wait, lets keep this between us. Until the doctor says the baby looks healthy and it's safe to tell… You know… the world."

"Just between us," he repeated before kissing her one last time.


	10. Designated Driver

Chapter 10: Designated Driver

Married for 3 months and 2 week

End of August

Ainsley was about six weeks pregnant and was experiencing all of the common symptoms that came with expecting. The nausea and fatigue had kept her from coming into work on time. Because she missed so many hours of work, she had to stay extra late on the Friday night the senior staff was planning on going out for drinks. About an hour after the staff left for the bar, Ainsley met Sam at his office ready to go.

"Did you get enough done?" asked Sam.

Ainsley sighed. "Enough for today."

Sam closed his office and they began to walk. "So what excuse are you going to use to get out of drinking?"

"How about I'm the designated driver?" The Seaborns had to decided to keep the pregnancy a secret until the doctor told them that the baby was healthy and their chances of having a miscarriage decreased.

"I don't know if you talked to CJ today, but I think she is thinks something is up. Ouch!"

"Watch out for the curb, Sam. If CJ has a question, she can ask us. We're married, have a house, and haven't been in the gossip columns for a long time. I don't think we'll have a big problem with the press."

Sam nodded his head to show that he agreed. "But what are we going to say once your fake bug passes?"

"We have about a week to think of something new." Ainsley reached for Sam's hand as they walked through the abandoned parking lot. "That reminds me, in two weeks we have a doctor's appointment. It's at seven at night."

"You're going to have to remind me when the date comes near."

"I know. I can't believe my forgetful husband is going to be a dad," teased Ainsley.

"I still can't believe I'm married to a Republican." The two walked in silence. "So how's the Spud doing in there?"

"Just fine." The couple found their car and Ainsley leaned up against it.

"Is he growing strong? Is he going to be the greatest football player who ever lived?"

"So it's a boy? 'Cause I had my hopes on an adorable girl that would chase all the boys around the playground. And when she turned 15, she would give her daddy such a headache because she would still be chasing the boys."

Sam put his hand on her stomach. "We're having a boy. I can feel it." And before Ainsley could say something, Sam kissed her.

* * *

Josh was the first to see Sam and Ainsley enter the bar. He raised his beer and said, "Hey! You made it!" 

Sam looked at Donna. "Are you watching his beer intake?"

Donna nodded her head. "That one is beer number two."

The couple sat down at the table. "What do you guys want?" asked CJ.

"I'll stick with water tonight," replied Ainsley.

CJ looked at Ainsley. "You came to the bar and you are just going to have water? I'm telling you Ainsley, a few beers will clear up the bug of yours."

Sam butted into the conversation. "She can't have any alcohol," he said being cautious of his wife and baby.

"I've been selected designated driver. And Sam here," she patted his arm, "doesn't want me to have anything that could impair my vision or reaction. What would you like, Sam?"

"A beer is good."

CJ said, "You should let Sam be the designated driver once in awhile."

"I've been designated driver plenty of times."

"When was the last time you were designated driver?" inquired CJ.

"Drop it CJ before people start thinking you are their mother," said Toby, who just wanted to enjoy his drink without any bickering around him.

CJ tried to defend herself. "I just think it is unfair for Sam to drink when Ainsley isn't allowed to."

Meanwhile, during the whole designated driver conversation, Donna and Josh were off talking about their own personal life on their side of the table. "Are you drunk?" asked Donna. "Quick, name all of the Bartlet daughters from oldest to youngest."

Josh closed his eyes really tight to think. "Liz, Ellie, and Zoey."

"Okay, you passed."

"I always pass," replied Josh.

"No you don't, but since you aren't drunk and _might_ not do anything stupid, do you think we should tell them?"

"What?"

"Do you think we should tell them?"

"Donna, I know I'm not drunk, but I don't understand who 'them' is and what we have to tell?"

"Tell everyone tonight that we are dating."

"Yeah, except if we told them we were dating, that would be a lie because we haven't been on a date yet," said Josh smugly.

Donna sighed. "Are you going to ask me on a date or is this relationship going in a different direction that I didn't see coming?"

Josh took another sip of his drink. "I thought we were going to play it safe for awhile."

"It's been three months!" said Donna, trying to keep her voice down. "I mean- I thought-"

"Donna Moss, would you like to go on a date with me?" interrupted Josh.

Donna bashfully smiled, but tried to look upset. "I hate it when you act mean and then pull something like this."

"Is that a 'no'?"

"A date sounds nice," said Donna sweetly.

"Tomorrow?"

"We have work tomorrow," reminded Donna.

"Whose idea was it to work on Saturday?"

"Since when have we _not_ worked on a Saturday?"

Josh and Donna were quietly squabbling at their corner of the table until Toby finally noticed them. "What are you two fighting about?"

Josh and Donna looked like they were caught stealing cookies. The whole table looked at them. "Nothing," said Josh casually.

Donna said, "We were just having a healthy debate."

"Come on, what were you talking about?" pushed Sam.

"Nothing," replied Josh. Donna kicked him under the table, which caused Josh to look at Donna and whisper, "No."

Now CJ was interested. "Spit it out!"

Donna kicked Josh again. He looked at his friends and then to Donna. While still looking at her, he said, "Okay. Donna and I are going to go on a date."

Ainsley and CJ cheered while Sam and Toby were just dumbfounded. "For some reason, I shouldn't be surprised," grumbled Toby.

Sam was taken aback. "When did… What… How did I…" He turned to CJ. "You aren't upset?"

CJ just laughed at Sam. "No. Donna talked to me the other day and I gave them permission."

Ainsley was delightfully squealing and her pitch was an octave or two higher than normal. "I'm so happy for you two!"

Sam looked at Ainsley. "You knew, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Sam was starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "And Josh thought I knew so he tried to hide the fact that he was seeing Donna by telling me he was getting lunch by himself."

"I thought you knew!" assumed Josh.

Toby said, "Well I had no idea any of this was going on, but I'm telling you this, don't give us any trouble."

"I'm just glad that everything is out in the open now," said Donna.

The staff continued to sit around and chitchat. Before long, Ainsley pointed to her watch and said. "It's almost out bedtime."

CJ looked at Sam. "You only had one beer. Ainsley, you could have gotten drunk tonight."

"CJ," began Sam, "I promise Ainsley will get drunk and I'll be the designated driver the next time. Besides, we both have work tomorrow and I don't think it would look very good if we came in with hangovers."

That answer seemed to satisfy CJ enough to let the two leave. Once out of the bar and in the car, Sam said, "That was a close one."

"I think in the best interest of our kid, we should stay away from CJ and bars until she-or he- is born."


	11. Gone For Two Days

Thanks everyone for all the reviews. I didn't except to have so many chapters in this series and there are going to be at least five more... Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Gone For Two Days

Married for 4 months and 1 week

10 weeks pregnant

September

"Did you pack your good tie?" asked Ainsley as she sat on the bed. She was watching Sam pack for a trip to New York City with the President and the senior staff.

"Yes."

"Boxers?"

"Yes."

"Your shaving kit?"

"I'm only going to be gone for two days."

"I know." Ainsley began to get teary eyed.

Sam walked over to her and squeezed her shoulders. "I can always buy something there if I forget it."

"I would hate to see you leave your shaving kit behind."

"Why's that?"

"Because I like you nice and clean shaven," she said as she rubbed his cheeks.

"I have my shaving kit."

"Good."

Sam went back to throwing more stuff into his suitcase. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"Yeah. I don't want the whole staff to wonder why I'm puking and not eating. Besides, I have plenty of work to do at the office and around the house."

"What are you doing around the house?"

Ainsley shrugged. "I want to set up our offices and start to get the bedroom ready for a crib before I won't be able to see my toes."

"Right." Sam zipped his suitcase and garment bag up. "I should be home with enough time to go to your doctor's appointment."

Ainsley's eyes lit up. "I thought you forgot."

"I'm not as forgetful as you think," teased Sam.

"You'll be back by five?"

"We should be back around three, but then again, we are never on time."

"Right," said Ainsley.

"Do we get to hear the heartbeat?"

"Yes."

Sam made his way back to Ainsley. "In that case, I'll make sure we come home on time."

"You would do that for me?" smiled Ainsley.

"Of course. Are you going to come with me to Andrews?"

"Yeah." Ainsley's eyes were starting to tear up more, but before her tear could fall, Sam caught it with his thumb.

"It's only two days."

Ainsley nodded her head. "I'm trying not to cry."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not," stammered Ainsley. "I'm so emotional. I hate hormones!" Sam couldn't help but laugh, which made Ainsley smile. "You think it's funny!" She picked up a pillow and hit him.

"Hey! Hey! You don't want to cut up my nice clean shaven face, do you?"

Ainsley got off the bed and hit him once more. "It's just a pillow," she giggled before Sam did the one thing that could stop the abuse- he kissed her. Ainsley broke the kiss and said, "We need to go."

"Just one more second," said Sam as he kissed her just a little bit longer.

* * *

Ainsley went with Sam and the rest of the staff to Andrews Air Force Base. Sam and the staff were about to aboard the plane before Ainsley stopped him. "You will be back in time?" 

"I wouldn't miss the heartbeat for the world," whispered Sam into Ainsley's ear.

Ainsley was about to weep again. "I'll miss you."

"Me too," said Sam before kissing her one last goodbye. "Love you."

"Love you too. Have a safe trip and call me once you are back on land," said Ainsley as she tried to keep herself together.

Once in the air, Sam opened up his briefcase to find a letter from his wife. He read it with a slight smile on his face. The letter read:

_Sam, _

_I know we haven't talked about this, but here are my first choices:_

_Jenna, Hannah, Lucille, Alexa, Kaylee, Elizabeth, Anne-Marie _

_Ian, Cole, Owen, Willard, Robert_

_Before you jump to the nearest phone and start a debate, just think about these… please?_

_Love,_

_Ainsley_

"Lucille?" thought Sam. "'Lucille Seaborn'? What the hell is she thinking? Probably the hormones, or at least that's what she will say once we talk about the name 'Lucille' 40 years from now… And why are there more girl names than boy's? I have to call her." Sam went on a search to find the nearest phone with the list of names in his hand, ignoring Ainsley request to at least think about it.

Sam walked the aisle, but Toby stopped him. "Sam!"

"Toby, I'll have to get back to you. I need to call Ainsley."

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about Ainsley."

Sam was stopped in his tracks. "What about her?"

"Have a seat." Toby cleared off the seat next to him and Sam sat. "You know Andy gave birth to twins a year ago?"

"Yes. How are they doing?"

"Great," said Toby, "but we are talking about Ainsley."

"Yes, we are talking about Ainsley," repeated Sam.

"I am familiar with the signs of pregnancy." Sam nodded his head, almost, but not exactly sure where Toby was going. "How far along is she?"

Sam was dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"

Toby kept his voice down, "How far along in her pregnancy is she?"

"Ten weeks," whispered Sam. "We're trying to keep it a secret. You're the first to know. We haven't even called our parents yet, so if you could not-"

"-Not tell anyone?" finished Toby. "Sure and congratulations."

Sam broke out into a smile. "Thank you."

"And rewrite these two paragraphs," added Toby as he gave Sam some papers with red markings all over them.

"I thought you liked it."

"Fix it."

"Hey, Sam!" said Josh. "Walk with me."

Sam followed Josh's orders while trying to escape Toby's wrath at the same time. "What's up?"

"I need your help."

"Okay."

"I want to take Donna out in New York."

"She'll like that," smiled Sam.

"Yeah, except, I don't know where to take her."

"Is this your date that you still haven't taken her on that I hear her complaining about."

"Yeah," sighed Josh.

"So expectations are pretty high?"

"Yeah."

"We have some planning to do," said Sam.


	12. Checkups and Dates

Chapter 12: Checkups and Dates

Married for 4 months and 1 week

10 weeks pregnant

September

"Everybody should be ready to leave tomorrow by eleven after the President meets with the mayor. That's all for tonight. Everyone go out and enjoy the city," said Leo as he dismissed the staff from a hotel room.

"Want to get a drink?" asked Sam to Toby while they walked to their rooms with the rest of the senior staff.

"And what about me?" said CJ.

"Oh, you can come."

"Why, thank you Sam," smiled CJ before she entered her room.

Toby turned to Josh and Donna and asked, "What about you guys?"

Josh and Donna hesitated before Josh said, "We have our own plans."

"Right," replied Toby as he and Sam kept on walking.

"I'll pick you up at seven," said Josh.

"I won't be late," giggled Donna who was very excited about finally going on a real date with Josh.

* * *

"Whoa!" 

"Nice restaurant, huh?" said Josh as the couple followed the lady to their table.

"How did you find this place?"

"I know my restaurants." Josh pulled out a chair for Donna before taking a seat in his own.

"Josh, you don't even know-"

"-Sam recommended that I take you here." Donna smiled knowing that she was able to make Josh crack. "He said something like he took Lisa here once… I don't know."

"Well, if Sam took his ex here, this can't be a good sign," joked Donna.

The couple was interrupted briefly by the waiter to take their drink order. After he left, the conversation started up again. "Did I mention that you look nice?" Josh was admiring her black wrap dress and super hot red lips.

Donna opened the menu as she blushed a few shades pink. "Only about three times already, but that's okay."

"And?"

"And what?" asked Donna as Josh flashed his dimpled smile at her. "And you look good too, but I already told you that."

"But, you see, that's okay."

Donna looked over the menu and changed the subject. "I'm going to have the sautéed shrimp. What about you?"

"I don't know. We've only been here for two minutes."

"You always take a long time deciding what you want."

"I do not. You just get the first thing that sounds good."

"What's wrong with that?"

Josh flipped a page in the menu. "You should weigh your options. I'm torn between the rabbit and the tuna."

"You're going to get the tuna."

"I'll get whatever I think I'll like," flirted Josh.

"Yeah, but I can't watch you eat a rabbit."

"And what about your shrimp? They are tiny sea creatures that don't harm anyone."

Donna stared at Josh trying to find some words to say back to him but the waiter came for their order. "I'll like to have the shrimp," said Donna.

"And you sir?"

Josh glanced at Donna and said, "The lightly cooked tuna, please."

* * *

"Hi, Ainsley," said Sam into his cell phone as he stepped off Air Force One. "We just landed." 

"How was it?"

"Good. We are coming over now."

"My doctor's appointment is in an hour."

"Can you push it back?" asked Sam. "I'm not going to make it."

"How about you meet me there?"

"I would do that except-"

"-You don't know where it is," finished Ainsley.

"Exactly."

"From the White House, go to Vermont, then 15th, then left on L. The address is 2555."

"I thought your doctor is 45 minutes away?"

"We are going to see an OB/GYN, Sam, and I asked for one near our work so it would be convenient."

"Okay. I'll meet you there. I need to go. Toby needs me."

"See you soon," said Ainsley.

"Love you. Bye," replied Sam. Sam put his phone away and turned his attention to Toby. "What do you need?"

"I need you to start on the President's remarks for the Governors dinner once we get back."

"Can I start tomorrow?" asked Sam while he and Toby got into a limo.

"No."

"I have to meet Ainsley once we get back." Toby was about to say something, but stopped. "We get to hear the heartbeat today," finished Sam.

"Go."

CJ, Josh and Donna climbed into the limo. "Hey, how was your date?" asked Sam.

Donna and Josh both looked at each other and smiled. "Good," said Donna.

"It would have been better if I got the rabbit," cracked Josh.

* * *

Sam walked up around L Street until he spotted Ainsley on the sidewalk. He glanced at his watch to find that he was just on time. "Ainsley!" 

Ainsley broke into a smile as she wrapped her arms around her husband. "Two days is way to long."

The couple briefly kissed. "I missed you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing much better." Ainsley kissed Sam again before saying. "Want to go in?"

Sam nodded his head, "Let's go see how Spud is doing."

The couple didn't have to wait very long for a nurse to show them to a room. Ainsley got comfortable on the bed with Sam in a chair at her side. "So Josh and Donna went on a date," said Sam.

"Really! I have to get the details from Donna later."

"Just don't ask about the rabbit and the tuna," said Sam as he looked at the confused face his wife was giving him. "Believe me, I heard it in the car and if Donna decides to tell it to you, it'll be an hour of your life you won't get back."

A man in a white coat and clipboard came into the room. He was probably in his mid forties and pretty tall with black hair. "Hello, Ainsley and you must be Sam."

Sam stood to shake his hand. "Yes, I'm Sam Seaborn."

The doctor nodded his head and said, "Nice to meet you, I'm Dr. Tim Gordon. How do you feel, Ainsley?"

"Much better now that the nausea has passed," replied Ainsley.

"Are you cutting back at work?" asked Dr. Gordon.

"Some."

"Good. We will hear the heartbeat today. I'm going to be using this stethoscope to hear the heartbeat. Any questions?"

The Seaborns shook their head. "Nope," said Ainsley.

Dr. Gordon hooked up some wires and did some prepping before he put the stethoscope on Ainsley's belly. Sam was grasping Ainsley's hand while his leg bounced up and down in anticipation.

"Stop shaking, Sam," said Ainsley has she looked at his leg.

"I can't." Suddenly a fuzzy whooping noise could be heard and Sam's leg stopped bouncing. "That's it?" asked Sam.

"That's your baby's heart," said Dr. Gordon, but the couple didn't hear him. They were preoccupied listening to the noise. "I'll be right back," excused Dr. Gordon.

"Ainsley, that's our baby's heart." Sam looked at her and she had a smile that stretched all the way across her face and tears in her eyes.

"That's our Spud," giggled Ainsley while she wiped away a tear.

"Whose name isn't 'Lucille'."

"Why did you have to kill this nice moment? And I planned on calling her 'Lucy' for short," teased Ainsley.

"How about I make it up to you with a take out dinner?" Ainsley scrunched up her nose. "Or I can clean the house this weekend," tried Sam.

"The second one is much better."

They were quite again, listening to the heartbeat. Sam said, "We really are having a baby," as he looked into Ainsley's eyes.

"Yeah, like my throwing up wasn't a big enough indicator that I was pregnant," joked Ainsley.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah. I'm really glad you are back, Sam."

"Me too."


	13. Making it Official

Chapter 13: Making it Official

Married for 5 months and 1 week

14 weeks pregnant

October

Ainsley could feel her heart race inside her chest while she sat in Sam's office waiting for him to come back from one of his meetings. She had so much to think about lately- the new baby, getting the house ready for then new baby, buying a bunch of baby supplies for the new baby and so on.

But today was a Saturday and the couple was just told that chances of miscarriage decreased, which means they could tell people about the baby. In addition, their improved apartment was ready to be revealed to their friends, so the Seaborns decided to have a housewarming party and tie it into their baby announcement.

Ainsley heard the door open and saw Sam came in. "Hi, Ainsley."

"Read to call?" she asked.

"Now?"

"Yeah, unless you want to back out now and have our mothers find out about the pregnancy over the news and you know they would be just thrilled about that."

"Right now sounds like a great time then," gulped Sam.

Ainsley smiled and giggled at her husband. "You're nervous."

"No, I'm just…," he trailed off.

"It's okay to be nervous," assured Ainsley with a smile.

"I just… Now it's going to be official."

Ainsley was taken aback a bit. "Yeah. And it wasn't before?" Her smile disappeared from her face.

"That's not… It's just slowly starting to hit me. That's all."

Ainsley seemed satisfied with the statement, but the tone her voice suggested otherwise. "Do you want to call your mom or my mom first?" she asked with a snappy manner.

Sam sighed. "Yours is fine," he said as he sat down in one of the chairs.

Ainsley began to punch the numbers on the telephone and then proceed to put it on speaker.

"_Hello?"_

"Hello, Momma."

"_Ainsley? Is that you?"_

Ainsley broke out into her smile again. To her, there was nothing like the sound of her mother's voice. "Yes, Ma, it's Ainsley and Sam's here too."

"_Hi, Sam."_

"Good morning, Mrs. Hayes," replied Sam.

"Momma, we have some news for you and you are the very first to know."

"_What's going on Ainsley? Is everything okay?"_

Sam reached for Ainsley's hand and squeezed it tightly. Ainsley looked up at Sam and carefully said, "We are going to have a baby."

There was a pause over the phone and the two continued to look at each other waiting for an answer.

"_You two are having a baby?"_

"Uh, yes, Mrs. Hayes," said Sam, "Ainsley and I are expecting a baby in April."

"_That is wonderful!"_ exclaimed Mrs. Hayes. Sam and Ainsley could hear her laughing over the phone. "_I'm so excited for you two."_

"We're very excited," responded Sam as he met Ainsley's eyes.

"_Do you have a picture of the baby yet?"_

"It's too early, Mom, but we'll send you one once we get one," said Ainsley.

"_Oh, I'm going to have another grandchild!"_

"Now you'll have three grandkids to spoil!" exclaimed Ainsley.

"_That's wonderful. If you two ever need any help, just call and I'll come up there."_

"Okay, Mom. We got to go back to work soon, but you need to understand that you can't tell anyone until the White House tells the press. It will be a big mess if that happens."

"_Your secret is safe with me, honey. Go get to work now."_

"Love yous" and "Byes" were exchanged over the phone before they hung up.

"That went well," said Sam.

"And here you are all nervous."

"My mom next?"

"Are you up for it?" asked Ainsley.

"Yeah, let's make it official."

* * *

"They're here, Ains," yelled Sam while the intercom buzzard was going off in their house. 

"No! Not yet," complained Ainsley. "I'm not ready." She was busy running around the kitchen trying to arrange the breadsticks in a basket while taking the lasagna out of the oven at the same time.

"Okay." Sam paused. "Now can I let them in?"

"SAM!"

"Okay, okay. Sorry." Sam just stood by the intercom waiting for the "go ahead" from his wife.

Ainsley stopped scurrying around and took a deep breath. "Just let them in," she sighed. And Sam did.

In no time, the senior staffers filled the Seaborns house bring along housewarming presents with them.

"Here's a little housewarming gift from all of us and the boxes are from Leo and the Bartlets who said they are sorry they could not make it tonight," said Donna while giving the gifts to Sam.

"And Charlie and Zoey are going to be late," added CJ.

"Thanks, guys," said Ainsley as she unwrapped a personalized sign that had "The Seaborns" printed on it with some lovey-dovey inspirational words around it. "I love it. We'll put it above the couch."

Josh stepped forward and gave a nicely packaged gift bag to Sam. "Toby and I saw this and we thought you guys might like it."

Sam glanced at his friends who all had a hint of a smirk on their face. He cautiously opened the bag. "Monogrammed toilet paper," chuckled Sam.

Ainsley cooed, "Ohh, let me see."

"We'll get some use out of it," laughed Sam as he pulled out one of the rolls that had a big "S" on every sheet.

CJ began to walk around and admired Sam and Ainsley's new digs. "I like what you've done with the place. Toby, stop being a stickler and tell them their house looks good."

"It looks good," said Toby to Ainsley.

Ainsley grinned and replied, "Thank you. Sam will take you on the tour. I need to finish up the salad."

"Need any help?" offered Donna.

"No thanks. Almost done."

Sam took the group around and showed them the new apartment they added on to their own by making a little doorway in the middle of it.

"How long did it take you to do this?" asked CJ.

"About three months." Sam explained, "One of Ainsley's brothers knew some people and they did a lot of the paint and the doorway. We redid the kitchen and this part is going to be our dining room slash office area. Back there is a spare bedroom-"

"-Is that going to used for the kids?" jokingly questioned CJ.

Sam paused in his tracks and mumbled a little. "Um, yeah… Right now it's just boxes and storage." The answer seemed to satisfy CJ so he continued. "And here's our living room where we started."

"New TV?" asked Toby as he admired the flat screen TV.

Sam's eyes lit up just talking about it. "Yep. Fifty inches."

"You're going to have our Super Bowl party, right?" asked Josh.

CJ and Donna rolled their eyes. Donna said, "You should have hid that thing 'cause now these two are going to be living in your living room."

Sam shook his head. "Donna, there is no way I am going to hide a fifty inch plasma HDTV."

Toby agreed with Sam. "If I had this TV, I would carry it where ever I go."

"You guys are sick," announced CJ. "I'm going to keep Ainsley company."

"Me too," said Donna as she followed CJ out.

"Want to turn it on?" asked Sam.

"I'm surprised we've kept it off this whole time," said Toby.

* * *

CJ and Donna found the kitchen with Ainsley still cooking away. 

"What do you guys think?" asked Ainsley.

"It is amazing!" exclaimed Donna.

CJ asked, "Was the TV your choice or Sam's?"

"Sam got the TV, I got the kitchen," explained Ainsley. "Can you guys set the table?" The intercom buzzed once again. "And see if that's Zoey and Charlie?"

"So how are the new lovebirds doing?" asked Ainsley to Donna.

Donna blushed at the comment. "We're doing pretty well considering we are the new 'it' couple of Washington."

"I'm glad you guys are together," said CJ, "but don't say I didn't warn you about the press."

Donna took a sip of her wine. "I just didn't expect this much or that it'll last this long. It's been a month since our relationship broke and the news has not faded."

A knock was heard from the door and Charlie and Zoey walked in. "Hello," said Zoey.

"Hey, guys," said Ainsley.

Charlie held out a white box. "We brought cheesecake."

"Yum, thank you. The men are in that room, Charlie, and Zoey, us women are in the kitchen."

"Hi, Donna," said Zoey with a smile.

Donna placed a plate down. "Hey, Zoey. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. How are things with you and Josh?"

"Good."

Charlie came back into the kitchen, "Zoey, you got to take a look at this TV."

"Yeah, in a minute," said Zoey to Charlie before he turned around and went back to the TV. Her attention turned back to Donna. "My parents told me things are going good with you and Josh too."

CJ and Ainsley looked at each wondering what Zoey was getting at. "Zoey?" asked Ainsley. "What evidence does parents have to prove that Josh and Donna's relationship is going good?"

"Maybe Donna would like to tell you."

Every eye was on Donna as she took a sip of wine to try to calm her nerves. She could tell she would have no luck getting out of this one so we proceeded to tell. "Well, Josh and I came back to the hotel after our date in New York and it was past midnight. We assumed everyone was in their room and sleeping." Donna began to tap her fingers on the counter as her nerves began to take over. "And Josh and I began to kiss in the middle of the hall while we found my room."

"You guys were doing more than just kissing," butted in Zoey.

Donna sighed, "What did you parents call it?"

"An intense make-out session."

Sounds of Ainsley and CJ's laughter filled the apartment. Ainsley was gasping for air when she said, "So- so… You got caught by the press k-k-kissing in the hall?"

CJ was about to pee her pants and pass out. "By the President?"

Zoey was on the floor- dying.

"Everyone okay in here?" asked Josh as he poked is head in.

Ainsley, Zoey and CJ just kept on laughing. "We're fine," said Donna who simple took another sip of her wine.

* * *

The main course was over and dessert was about to come- along with the big announcement. Ainsley called Sam into the kitchen to help with the coffee. "Are you ready?" she asked. "Because now it's really going to be official." 

"You know I've been ready, but this morning I guess I just realized that- although it has never been an option- there is no turning back now." Sam reached for the coffee mugs. "I'm happy and little relived that people other than Toby will know about the Spud and I'm sad that we won't have a secret between the two of us anymore."

"Sam, we'll have a lot more secrets. I promise." Ainsley wrapped her arms around Sam's waist. "Now that we make it official, we won't have to make up excuses about why I can't drink or go to a smoky bar."

Sam bent down to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you too and Toby knows?"

"I didn't tell you?" Ainsley shook her head no with a little anger in her eyes. "Yeah, he figured it out on the trip to New York. Come on, let's go tell them," said Sam as he picked up the mugs and coffee pot before he would get in trouble.

Ainsley brought in a tray of desserts to the table full of guests. "Okay, there's cheesecake and apple crisp."

Sam looked at Ainsley while she grabbed his hand under the table as the stood together. "We also have something to say," said Sam. "We want to first thank you for coming." Sam squeezed Ainsley's hand and looked at her to continue.

Ainsley bit her lip. "We are also expecting a baby in April."

The table gasped, everyone's face lit up, and congratulations were called out. The girls go up the hug Ainsley while then men shook hands with the expecting dad.

Sam took another moment to kiss his wife and whispered in her ear, "Now it's really official."


	14. Fight With Your Significant Other Day

Finally another chapter for everyone! This really isn't as long as it looks since it's mostly dialog... Enjoy!

Chapter 14: National Fight-With-Your-Significant-Other Day

Married for 5 months and 3 weeks

17 weeks pregnant

End of October

* * *

"Anything else?" asked CJ as she looked around Leo's office full of the senior staff. "Sam?" 

"Nope," he said.

"Are you sure you don't want to add anything to the press conference?" asked CJ again.

"No," said Sam quickly, scared to let the news about his baby out.

Leo came into the conversation. "Sam, it's take out the trash day. Today's the best day to announce it."

"And let me remind you," began CJ, "Kate has something on Ainsley's pregnancy."

"Let me call her. Excuse me," said Sam as he stepped out of Leo's office.

"Clearly, Ainsley wears the pants in that marriage," stated Toby.

"Josh," said Leo with a slight grin, "apparently people are intrigued with you and Donna so _In Style_ wants to do an interview with you. They want you to be the 'Man of Style' for the December issue."

Toby chuckled and CJ exploded with laughter. "That's great April Fools joke, Leo," cried out CJ. "You should have saved it,"

"What's so funny about that?" asked Josh. "I'll do the interview."

CJ could barely control herself. Toby said, "Just make sure Donna picks out your outfit."

Sam came back into the office. "Okay. Ainsley said we should announce it today." He looked at the staff, especially at CJ's beat red face. "What did I miss?"

Leo walked behind his desk. "Josh is going to be December's 'Man of Style' for _In Style_."

"The magazine?"

Leo nodded his head once. "Yeah, the magazine."

Sam had a grin appearing on his face. "No, really, what did I miss?"

Josh was becoming frustrated. "What's so hard to understand? I'm going to December's 'Man of Style.'"

The office began to roar with laughter. "Okay, that's it," said Leo, breaking up the party. "Sam and Toby, I want the transportation proposal on my desk before you leave and I'll see everyone tomorrow."

"Why haven't I been a 'Man of Style' yet?" pondered Sam while the staff walked out of Leo's office.

Josh stuck his nose in the air. "You don't have the charisma."

"Believe me, I don't think that's it," said Toby.

* * *

"Hey, Donna," said Ainsley as she approached her desk. Almost everyone was gone for the weekend and the office was dark except for a few lights. 

"Hi," smiled Donna while clearing off a chair for her to sit. "What's up?"

"Waiting for Sam and Toby to finish. Are you leaving soon?"

"Yeah, Josh is finishing up."

"How are you guys doing?" asked Ainsley, hoping to get some juicy information.

"We're good. Josh is going to be featured in _In_ _Style_ the magazine so his ego is pretty inflated right now."

"If I was going to be in _In_ _Style,_ my ego would be inflated too."

"I'll take care of his inflated ego tonight. How are you doing? Excited about the baby?"

"Yeah," said Ainsley. "We're excited and nervous, but more excited than nervous."

Donna giggled at Ainsley's speech pattern "Well, you have that glow that everyone talks about."

"Thanks."

"Have you picked out any names yet?"

"For a while I was really leaning toward Lucille." Donna scrunched her nose slightly for a second. "But don't worry, I changed my mind and Sam hated it."

"Any other potential names, like 'Donna'?"

Ainsley smiled, "We haven't really talked about it too much, but I'll mention it to Sam."

"What will you mention to me?" asked Sam as he approached Donna's desk with his brief case and coat in tow.

"Names," said Ainsley, filling him in. "Donna thinks Spud should be called 'Donna'."

"Does that sound like great name or what?" teased Donna.

Sam had a face of skepticism. "We'll think about it."

"That's all I'm asking," smiled Donna.

Ainsley laughed and stood to put her coat on. "See you tomorrow, Donna."

Sam and Ainsley made their way past the security and out of the White House with her arm around his. "It's getting a little nippy," commented Ainsley, brushing some strands of hair from her face.

"Can we please not name our baby 'Donna'?" begged Sam.

"Oh, chill out, will you!" asked Ainsley was she hugged his arm tighter. "She was just teasing."

"But you have to promise me, if I happen to die, you will not name our baby 'Donna' or 'Lucille' or anything else I don't like."

"Anything else you don't like?" repeated Ainsley. She grinned, "That's a little extreme don't you think?"

"No," he said sarcastically.

"Let's make a deal," began Ainsley, "if it's a girl, I get to name Spud. If it's a boy you get to pick the name."

"But what if you pick 'Lucille'?"

"I'm starting to like 'Lucille' more and more since you keep complaining about it. I might just pick it."

"Oh, no you won't."

"Oh, yes I will. Lucy Seaborn. Little baby Lucy. Sam, can you please change Lucy's diaper," joked Ainsley as she rubbed her belly. "It has a nice ring."

"We should save this for further discussion," suggested Sam.

"Ha! You just do not know what else to say. I win."

"It's a fact the wife always wins." The couple found their car and Sam took out his keys to unlock the doors.

Ainsley was taken aback. "Are you giving up?"

"No, it's just if there is anything President Bartlet has taught me, it's the wife always wins."

Ainsley climbed into her seat, "You're giving up! I'm not winning if you're giving up. Sorry, Sam, but I don't play that way."

"And what way is that?"

Ainsley huffed. "I think we should just be quite and enjoy our ride home together in silence."

Sam chucked to himself, "Just wait until I tell the President I won one."

Ainsley pinched his arm.

* * *

The next morning the Seaborns were greeted with congratulations on Ainsley's pregnancy and the couple was radiant with joy and excitement. Donna greeted the couple at Sam's office with a yellow card in her hand. 

"Hey, Donna," smiled Ainsley. "What's up?"

Donna was giddy. "I made you something," she grinned as she gave the card to Ainsley.

With Sam looking over her shoulder, Ainsley opened the card and inside was stamped with hearts and looked like a page from a scrap book. There was an article clipping from the _Post _glued inside, which Ainsley read the article out loud, "President's Bartlet's Senior Advisor, Sam Seaborn, and his Republican wife, Ainsley Seaborn-Hayes who works in the White House Counsel's office, are expecting their first baby in April. Press Secretary, CJ Cregg made the announcement at last night's press briefing and said the impending parents are thrilled. The couple married in the Rose Garden in May. This will be their first child. We just wonder if the child is going to be raised as a Democrat or Republican."

"Our Spud made the news," said Sam.

Ainsley was touched by Donna's gift. "Thanks for this, Donna. I'm going to get it framed," said Ainsley as she gave her friend a hug. "I'm sorry I'm all teary."

"It's okay," smiled Donna. "You're pregnant. I'm glad you like it. Sam, did you really think your announcement will slip by the press?"

"I just thought hoped for a second..."

"Donna!" yelled Josh as he appeared in the Bull Pen.

"I'm right here!" yelled Donna back. "God, you would think he would calm down now that his getting some," she blurted out to Ainsley and Sam.

"Some things are just not meant to be said out loud," said Sam.

"Hey, guys. You made the news," stated Josh. "You okay, Ainsley?"

Ainsley nodded as she wiped some tears while Sam answered for her, "She's fine. Hormones," he whispered to Josh.

"Ah," said Josh as if he understood. He turned to Donna. "Leo needs us."

"Lunch?" asked Donna to Ainsley before leaving. Ainsley just nodded her head, still too choked with emotion to speak.

Josh and Donna began to walk to Leo's office when Josh asked, "Did you do anything stupid?"

"I slept with you last night. Does that count?"

"No," said Josh.

"Then I did not do anything stupid."

"Then why would Leo call us?"

"I don't maybe you did something stupid," bantered back Donna.

The two walked in silence for a bit. "You were joking, right?"

"No, I really didn't do anything stupid."

"No! About the thing you said before that."

"You mean sleeping with you?"

"Shh," hushed Josh. "Not so loud."

"Yeah I was joking about that. Hey Margaret."

"He's expecting you," said Margaret as they walked in.

"Good morning, Leo," said the couple.

Leo looked up from his work and took his glasses off. "Morning. Have a seat." Both followed Leo's directions. "Do you guys realize you are making the tabloids?"

Donna blushed and Josh answered for them. "Yes, but we are trying very hard to be discreet."

"Well, thank you for trying, but that still hasn't kept you from making _Us Weekly_ in their probably only true story in the whole magazine. It's about a White House advisor sleeping with his assistant. Sound familiar," asked Leo as he pulled out a few different magazines with the pages marked where there were photos of Josh and Donna.

Donna's red was spreading to her ears. "We'll try harder?" suggested Josh.

"Yeah, try harder because I don't want to deal with a scandal because, we haven't had enough. Donna, how do you feel about working with Mrs. Bartlet?"

"I like her," was all Donna could say, not quite sure where Leo was going.

"Good. She wants you in her Press and Research Department."

Donna smiled. "Really?"

"Do all my girlfriends work with First Lady?" asked Josh more to himself than to the people in the room.

"Take time to consider it this weekend," said Leo.

"But wait," said Josh, "who will I have?"

Leo put his glasses back on to try to get back to work. "We'll just have to hire someone else."

Donna stood up and Josh followed. "I'll think about it, Leo," said Donna before her and Josh left Leo's office.

* * *

The West Wing was full of activity being a Saturday, but that didn't stop the Senior Staff and Ainsley from meeting to chit-chat during their lunch hour. In the Roosevelt Room, Ainsley was helping Sam and Toby summarize proposal on freedom of speech in the media when Josh and Donna came in with takeout Pizza to join them. 

"I hear you guys have pizza," said CJ as she waltzed right into the room and grabbed a slice for herself.

"Oh, and help yourself," said Toby.

Ainsley snatched the pen out of Sam's hand. "I'm telling you, Sam, those Republicans on the Hill are not going to let that roll."

"They're not going to let it roll?" repeated Josh. "I'm sorry, but are you in high school?"

"Ainsley, there shouldn't be that many restrictions on freedom of speech," argued Sam as he grabbed his pen back.

"And just for that," began Ainsley as she raised her eyebrows, "I'm naming our baby 'Lucy'."

"Oh. No. You. Won't," responded Sam.

CJ swallowed her food. "I love that name!"

"What happened to 'Donna'?" asked Donna.

Josh looked at her and said, "She went to the East Wing. That's what happened to Donna."

"I am so glad I'm not in a relationship today," said Toby.

CJ took a seat. "And why's that?"

"I think it's National Fight-With-Your-Significant-Other Day."

"Do you know what they are fighting about?" she asked Toby.

"No, and I do not want to."

"I do. Okay everyone!" yelled CJ, getting the control of the room- which worked. "Josh and Donna, you guys are first. What's your problem?"

Josh asked, "Are you our relationship counselor?"

"Yes," answered CJ bluntly. "What's your problem?"

"Leo- and I'm assuming Mrs. Bartlet as well- asked me to work in her Press and Research Department," answered Donna.

"My gosh, Donna!" exclaimed Ainsley. "That's fantastic!"

Toby added, "And Josh doesn't want to let you go. I'm just guessing that since he hasn't had another assistant since we started working here."

Donna took a sip of her soda. "And you're correct, Toby. But I'm really being sent there so it won't look like a Senior Staff is banging his assistant."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Did not want to hear that either."

"Josh, you got to let her go," demanded CJ.

"Really?" he asked- or begged.

"Josh, you should give this fight up," suggested Sam. "You need to learn how to pick your battles."

"Oh, so now you are going to boast about your big win last night," complained Ainsley.

"You won a fight!" asked Josh as he spoke for the whole group of people in the room.

"Umm..." hesitated Sam as he looked back and forth between his wife with his child and the staff.

CJ asked, "Is this what you two are fighting about?"

"It's not really a fight..." said Sam. "How about disagreement."

"But you won?" questioned Josh.

"We are disagreeing on what, or how, to time our baby," said Ainsley filling the staff in.

"You mean 'Donna' isn't good enough?" pouted Donna.

"Oh, Donna's a beautiful name," reassured Ainsley. "But not for this little one," she said as she rubbed her still flat stomach. Donna nodded in agreement. "We are fighting about which one gets to name the baby."

"If it's a boy, I name him," supplied Sam. "If it's a girl, Ainsley names her."

"What's so wrong with that?" asked CJ.

"Well, what if she names her 'Lucy' or something else I don't like?" argued Sam. "It's our daughter, we should name her together."

"Sam," began Toby, "stop talking like a lawyer defending some guy on death row and Andie named Huck and I named Molly. I think I've lost my mind, but I agree with you one hundred percent."

"Thank you," said Sam.

"Oh, I know what," exclaimed Donna. "Both of you make a list of, I don't know, twenty girl names and twenty boy names and you have to pick from the list."

Sam argued, "Okay, but if Ainsley puts 'Lucille' on her list then she still gets to pick it."

CJ said, "So then you exchange lists, and you get to veto five per gender or ten names between the two genders."

"Nothing like using executive power," cracked Josh.

Ainsley grabbed another piece of pizza. "Now that's not too bad."

"What about the middle name?" asked CJ.

"If it's a boy," began Sam, "I name the first name and Ainsley gets the middle then vice versa." Ainsley nodded her head in agreement.

"Let's make it into a bill," said Donna who got odd looks from the staff. "Well you guys are already vetoing, let's just put the whole thing in government context."

"I'll write it," volunteered CJ as she snatched Sam's notepad. She wrote:

_Sam Seaborn and Ainsley Seaborn-Hayes agree to make a list of twenty male names and twenty female names for my unborn child. I agree to no more than five vetoes per gender or less than ten names total and to name my child by the remaining names. Sam Seaborn shall choose the male name if the baby is a boy and Ainsley Seaborn-Hayes shall choose the female name if the baby is a girl. Who ever does not name the first name picks the middle name. _

"Sign here," demanded CJ.

Both Sam and Ainsley read and re-read the document before signing their name and date... Then they sealed it with a kiss.


	15. Thanksgiving

A/N: I know this chapter is very long and was suppose to be even longer, but I broke it up with the next chapter. That chaptershould be up here in less than a week... Hope everyone still enjoys this and I have no idea how much longer this series is going to be. It is much longer than I expected. Enjoy!

Chapter 15: Thanksgiving

Married for 6 months and 1 weeks

21 weeks pregnant

It was Thanksgiving morning and the sun was not even up yet when the Seaborns were on the road to Ainsley's mother's house. But before Sam and Ainsley could have their home cooked meal, they had to endure a five hour trip to get there.

"I told you this would be fun," quipped Sam as he glanced at his wife. Ainsley just rested her head against the window, her hair was unbrushed and fanned out on her shoulders. She gave Sam the cruelest look he has ever seen. "It might be," Sam paused to look at the clock on the dashboard, "Five-thirty AM, but at least you'll get to see your mom and sister and the rest of the family by noon."

"Sa-am," groaned Ainsley. Sam glanced at her again with a slight grin. "You are too much of a morning person."

"You're from the South. You mean you've never had to wake up at the crack of dawn and milk a cow?" he teased.

Ainsley shut her eyes and mumbled, "I'm going to pretend I did not just hear that."

Ten minutes went by before Sam spoke again. "Are you asleep?"

An annoyed Ainsley said, "I was trying to."

"Oh. Never mind."

"What is it?" she mumbled with her eyes shut.

"Nothing. It can wait."

She shifted in the chair to face him. "I'm already awake," she sighed. "What do you need?"

"Have you ever thought what you wanted to do after the President's term is over?" asked Sam.

Ainsley rubbed her eyes. "A little, but now that we're having a baby, I don't know what I want to do."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know what to do. I could go into practice in a friendly neighborhood in the suburbs or I could be a counsel for someone and stay in all the politics." There was a pause before she asked, "What do you want?"

"Whatever you do and wherever you go, I'm happy," said Sam sincerely.

"Sam," Ainsley was caught off-guard by his kindness.

His eyes met hers. "And I mean it."

"If you didn't have me, what would you do when Bartlet's out of office?"

"Before I met you, I wanted to run for something- Congress, governor, mayor of some town- anything. Back then, I was young and I had nothing to hold me back."

"And now?"

"I'll do whatever you do."

"You are still young and I don't want to hold you back."

"You aren't," he reassured.

"But you don't want to be a congressman anymore? I think you'll be great at it."

"If the opportunity came I guess I would run, but I have other things to worry about now- like you and Spud."

It was moments and comments like these that reminded Ainsley why she married Sam. "I love you."

"Me too."

* * *

After a smooth trip from D.C. to North Carolina, the couple was finally driving up the long dirt driveway leading to Mrs. Hayes's grand brick house. It was a classic country house with a big fence in the backyard and acres of rolling green hills. 

"Do we ring the doorbell?" asked Ainsley as she and Sam walked up the steps to the front door.

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "Did we ring the bell the last time?"

Ainsley thought back to the last time she was home; she came home for her father's funeral when she was engaged to Sam. "I don't remember," she said but before she could push the doorbell, two kids came running out the door.

"Aunt A!" they cried as Ainsley squatted on her knees to give shower them with hugs and kisses.

"Jacqueline and Matthew! You guys are a lot taller than last time I saw you!"

Four-year-old Matthew was in some of his best clothes- khaki pants and a sweater- spoke matter-of-factly, "The last time we saw you, you were getting married!"

"Aunt A, do you want to see what I did at school yesterday?" asked Jacqueline, who's six, as she tugged on her aunt's hand.

Ainsley stood back up and said, "Just a minute, but don't you want to say 'hi' to Sam first?"

Sam gave a small wave. "Hey, kids."

Jacqueline and Matthew gave him his hugs. Jacqueline piped, "Can we call you 'Uncle' now?"

"Yes, you can," said Sam with a warm smile.

"Ainsley!" came a cry from the inside.

"Momma, it's me," she replied, stepping in the foyer to get out of the slight coldness of November.

A woman about Ainsley's height, but with a thicker waist and short, curly, gray hair reached her arms out to Ainsley. "It's so good to see you," said Mrs. Hayes as she pulled Ainsley into a hug. "Let me see your belly," she ordered, breaking the hug. "I see a bump."

"I want to see the bump," pleaded Jacqueline.

Matthew patted his aunt's stomach. "Why do you have a bump?"

Ainsley smiled at him, adoring his cuteness. "Sam and I are growing a baby inside," she explained, her blue eyes twinkling.

The kids continued to ask Ainsley all sorts of questions about the baby while Sam and Mrs. Hayes greeted each other. "It's good to see you, Son," said Mrs. Hayes. "You look too skinny."

Sam was a bit flattered by her compliment, seeing how he had read many newly wed couples gain weight after marriage. "After today's dinner, I'm sure I'll be as plump as Santa Clause. You look wonderful, Mrs. Hayes."

"You need to start calling me 'mom', Sam."

After the kids ran away in the spacious house, Ainsley asked, "Is my sister and brothers around? They can help Sam and I get stuff from the car."

"The boys went in search for a football somewhere and your sister and sister-in-law went to bring the McIntyres a pumpkin pie," explained Mrs. Hayes.

Sam was already out the door when he said, "Relax Ainsley, it's only a few bags. I think I can manage it."

Mrs. Hayes led her daughter to the kitchen where there were pots, pans, and flour everywhere in the biggest kitchen Sam had ever seen when he first came to the house. "My, Mom, this kitchen smells good. Do you need help?" asked Ainsley

"No, dear, do what Sam said and relax." Ainsley obeyed her mother and took a seat on the stool by the counter. "It is so unfortunate that you can only stay for one night."

"Our work schedule is very busy," explained Ainsley. "How are you, Momma?"

"I'm doing okay," answered Mrs. Hayes as she opened the oven to check the turkey. "I do miss him, if that's what you are getting at."

Ainsley understood the "him" was her father and it was what she was getting at. "I miss him too."

"How is Sam treating you?"

Ainsley beamed when she spoke about her husband. "Really, really well. Everything is wonderful."

Mrs. Hayes filled up a glass of water and gave to Ainsley. "That's good. You're pregnant. You need to drink more water." Again, Ainsley did what she was told and took a sip of her water. "I hope that job of yours isn't keeping you from taking care of yourself."

"No, it's not," reassured Ainsley. "Everyone at the office understands and they take very good care of me." Ainsley could tell her mother wasn't too happy that she was working a very demanding job and pregnant, but Ainsley and her doctor knew she was healthy. Before she could explain this to her mother, two large men entered the kitchen.

"We found a football! Hey, Ainsley!" their big voices filled the house. Ainsley's older brother, Bobby, and younger brother, John, stomped their way over to their sister to give her a bear hug. Although the men were almost six years in age difference, they were the same height and had the same dirty blonde hair.

"Be careful, Bobby," said John, "our sister is pregnant!"

"Hey, and you can see it too!" laughed Bobby, pointing at her tummy. "She might be gaining weight."

Ainsley playfully hit Bobby on the arm. "I am gaining weight, thank you."

"You three, stop picking on each other," said Mrs. Hayes. "You aren't setting a good example of Jackie and Matt."

"Ainsley, where's that Democrat husband of yours?" asked John. "What's his name again? Scott... Scooter..."

"It's SAM!" laughed Ainsley. "He is getting our stuff from the car and it would be very nice of you two if you helped him."

But just as Ainsley said, those words, Sam appeared in the kitchen. "Hey, Sam!" said Bobby as he gave his brother-in-law a handshake. "You look great!"

"Thank you," said Sam. "You look good too. Hi, John."

"Good to see you, Sam," replied John. "You're going to play football with us later, right?"

"I'll try my best," chuckled Sam. "I haven't played football in ages."

Mrs. Hayes looked at her sons. "I'm sure my boys will take it easy on you. And Ainsley, you aren't allowed to play."

"Momma..." protested Ainsley.

Sam butted in, "Yeah, you aren't allowed to play."

"Ainsley?" came a cry from the front of the house.

"Nicole? I'm in here!" yelled back Ainsley.

Bobby's sister, Karen, entered the kitchen first then Ainsley's sister, Nicole, appeared. When the sisters saw each other, their faces lit up as they gave hugs. "You look fantastic. Look at you belly." Nicole was almost an exact replica of Ainsley. Although she was a few inches taller and wore her hair short at her shoulders, the sisters shared the same features.

"Hey, you found the football," said Nicole pointing to the ball in Bobby's hand.

"And you, Karen, and Jackie are the only girls playing this year," said John.

Nicole looked at her sister. "You aren't playing?"

"No!" answered Mrs. Hayes and Sam at the same time.

"I played when I was pregnant!" protested Nicole.

"I will be cheering you girls from the sidelines," said a sorrowful Ainsley.

* * *

It was late at night and the few remaining adults were sitting around the small kitchen table picking at the leftovers from the Thanksgiving meal. Sam and Ainsley were sitting at one side of the table with Sam's ankle in Ainsley's lap with an ice pack wrapped around it. John, Nicole and Mrs. Hayes were the other adults still awake and chatting away. 

"Sam, want another beer?" asked Mrs. Hayes, getting up from the table. "Sam, maybe some alcohol will help relieve yourself from that pain from that fall of yours."

"I think I'll pass on this one," laughed Sam.

Mrs. Hayes asked, "What names do you two have picked out?"

"I wanted Lucy," said Ainsley, "but Sam doesn't."

"Oh, Lucy is cute," said the soon-to-be Grandma.

Sam shrugged. "I don't think it fits," he said, but Ainsley could see there was something else.

Ainsley continued to name potential names. "Now we are thinking about Kaylee, Alexa, Robert, Owen..."

"Anne-Marie, Ian, Cole, Leo, and there's more," finished Sam.

Mrs. Hayes looked at Sam and Ainsley. "How are you guys going to do it?"

"Do what?" asked Ainsley.

"Raise a baby with your work schedule." Mrs. Hayes looked at her daughter. "You aren't going to give up your job?"

Ainsley shook her head "No, Mom, I was not planning on it. Sam and I haven't fully discussed our plans, but we do intend to very soon."

"Ainsley, you know it is a women's duty to raise her children," instructed Mrs. Hayes.

Sam said, "This morning, coming here, we talked about what we want in our future."

"And does that future involves Ainsley staying at home to take care of the baby?" asked Mrs. Hayes, sternly.

"No, Mom, I'm not giving up my career," said a heated Ainsley. "I'm not like you or Nicole who gave up their jobs to stay at home."

"Ainsley, do not insult me," replied Mrs. Hayes.

"It is not my intention to insult you." Ainsley began to speak in her lawyer tone. "I appreciate everything you have done for me and the family, Mom. I think it's fantastic that you and Nicole can find so much happiness at home, but that's not I want." Ainsley tucked some hair behind her ear before continuing. "Women today are working more than eight hour jobs and still find time to go to their child's soccer games and fix dinners for their family. I don't want to give up my career." Sam grasped Ainsley hand under the table as a silent way to show support. "Yes, working in the White House is demanding and it is more than a usual eight hour day, but Sam and I will talk this out so both of us can have our careers and still be there for our baby."

Mrs. Hayes was left silent by Ainsley's speech. "I think you are making a mistake." Ainsley looked away from her mother, feeling ashamed. "But, if you need any help, you know you can always call me. I need to get my beauty sleep," said Mrs. Hayes firmly as she stood and began to walk to the stairs.

After Mrs. Hayes disappeared, Sam leaned in to kiss his wife's forehead. "Ainsley," he sighed. "It is going to work out."

"She's right, you know. Both of us cannot work twelve hour days."

"We have a long ride home tomorrow. We can talk more about it then." Sam stood and pulled Ainsley up with him then wrapped his arms around her waist. "Let's go to bed."


	16. Amazing

Chapter 16: Amazing

Married for 6 months and 1 week

21 weeks pregnant

After eating a big breakfast and saying good-bye to their family, the Seaborns were back in the car driving home to D.C. Ainsley was still down from the comment her mother made about working too much, but Sam was determined to cheer her up.

"Do you think we should invest in a minivan?" he asked her.

"You mean right now?"

"We would probably need one eventually. I mean, you can't officially be a mother if you don't have a minivan with those screens to block the sun and fingerprints covering the windows." Ainsley giggled. "On the other hand, if we do get a minivan and have window screens, our colleagues will never stop picking on us."

"And don't forget we need a DVD player to keep our little one entertained."

"We are also going to need some kiddy car tunes, like 'Barney' or 'The Waggles'."

"You mean 'The Wiggles', Sam."

"I see you've done your research already."

Ainsley giggled. "How's your ankle doing? Do you need me to drive?"

"It's fine. Just do me a favor and not mention my fall in the family football game to anyone at work." Ainsley began to laugh loudly. "I have no chance getting away from this one, do I?"

"Not a chance," she smiled. "Your limp will give it away anyway." There was a brief moment of silence before Ainsley asked, "Sam, what do you think our Spud would be like?"

"If it's a boy," Sam paused, "he'll be an all-star quarterback and with my charm and brains, he will be the popular kid and well respected student in school."

"You sound like Josh."

"And if we have a girl, she will have your long blonde hair. She will be a drama queen, but still grounded and of course, intelligent. She will be pretty, but by her choice, she won't date a boy until she's thirty." Ainsley grinned, thinking about his idealistic view. "And of course, if we have a boy or girl, it would be a Democrat, healthy, and never get an ear infection or bloody nose."

"Keep dreaming, Sam. I don't care what the baby is like as long as it is, happy, healthy, and won't rebel."

"Oh, I forgot that. Our kid will never be embarrassed of us."

"Do you think if we name our daughter, Lucille, she will hate us for the rest of our lives?" asked Ainsley.

Sam rolled his eyes. "I think she will, but it doesn't matter because I vetoed that name, remember?"

"Yeah, I was just teasing," said Ainsley, sensing some kind of annoyance in his voice. She looked out the window at the tall pine trees that lined the highway. "Sam, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to-"

"What is it?"

Ainsley turned her gaze away from the window and on to Sam. "What was your father's mistress' name?"

Sam ran a hand through his hair raven black hair. "You don't want to know."

Ainsley didn't push the subject and let the minutes go by before she whispered gently to him, "It is 'Lucy', isn't it?" Sam only nodded his head. "That's why you hate the name 'Lucille' so much," said Ainsley, thinking out loud. "I'm sorry."

Sam shook it off. "It's okay. You didn't know."

"You should have said something. I thought you were just joking with me at first, but I would-"

"It's okay. Let's just completely forget it."

The few more minutes went by as the couple listened to the radio. "Sam, my mother was right about us working too much."

"Yeah," he said. "We can talk to Leo about it. He'll understand."

"And what is he going to do? Any job in the White House—or in D.C.—requires a lot of hours."

"I don't expect you to give up your job like your mom suggested. My mom worked crazy hours and still made time for me. You really love your job and you are good at it. You can't give it up."

"But it's not like I can just cut back some hours."

"Then I guess I'll have to," said Sam.

"No, you can't do that. You love what you do too," protested Ainsley.

"You really think I enjoy waking up in the middle of the night because of some national crisis or I enjoy arguing with Toby about when I should use a verb?" cracked Sam as he made Ainsley smile. "Besides, I see Toby struggling to find time to see Huck and Molly. I want to be there for my kid."

Ainsley was touched by his need to do the best for their baby. "We'll think about. We can always get a babysitter too," suggested Ainsley.

"Yeah," agreed Sam. "Oh, before I forget, the President is conducting a pool on how long it's going to take Josh to propose to Donna. Do you want to play?"

"Play? This isn't playing, this is betting."

"I didn't realize you had such a strong objection to gambling."

"I don't mind betting in poker or in Vegas, but these are people and-"

Before Ainsley could go off on a tangent about gambling and it's morals, Sam interrupted her, "It's $100 per person, so if we win we'll make at least $400."

"Hell, we'll play!" exclaimed Ainsley.

"And don't tell Josh and Donna."

"What makes you think I'll tell them?"

"Donna is your best friend..."

"I won't say anything. And put us in for one month."

"One month? Don't you think that's a little soon?" questioned Sam.

"They've been in love with each other for six years and been dating officially for six months. I think one month from now—Oh, Lord."

Sam looked curiously at her. "You okay?"

"I think...baby..."

"Ainsley?"

"The baby is kicking," said Ainsley in amazement as a smile inched over her face.

Sam gave her his adorable smile. "Are you sure?"

"Give me your hand."

Sam reached over and placed it on her swelling belly while his eyes became glassy. He looked at his wife with disbelief. "How long has that been going on?"

"I few days, but I didn't think it was kicking," giggled Ainsley.

"That's, that's..."

"Amazing," finished Ainsley.


	17. Breaking Down

Chapter 17: Breaking Down

Married for 6 months and 3 weeks

23 weeks pregnant

Early December

"Sam!"

"What?" asked Sam as he poked his head out from the bathroom to find out just what Ainsley was yelling at him about.

"I look ridiculous!" she complained.

"You look fine," he attempted to reassure her as he looked back into the mirror to finish his bow tie.

"Your eyes must be getting weaker."

"My eyes are fine."

"If your eyes are fine than you would be able to see my stomach and how unflattering this dress."

Sam came out of the bathroom with his tie in his hand. "It's beautiful on you."

"I'm not so sure about the color."

"The navy brings out your eyes," Sam told as he sat on the bed and gave Ainsley his tie. "And it's the perfect dress to meet important political Italians with."

Ainsley still seem unsatisfied with her appearance so she proceeded to change the subject. "Do you know what we are eating tonight?"

"Well, it is a State's Dinner, so I'm going with something fancy and with a very long name and wait, yeah, I'm sure you'll still eat it," answered Sam with a hint of a grin on his face.

Ainsley teased back, "You're just Mr. Helpful, aren't you?"

"You're not eating fish."

"Yeah, I know. Done," she said as she adjusted the tie into place. While Sam admired her work, Ainsley said, "When this kid comes out, my first meal is going to some kind of fish and alcohol."

"But you won't—"

"No, Sam, I'll watch my fish and alcohol intake and blah, blah, blah."

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes at his wife's cuteness. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"I need to pee one last time," said Ainsley before rushing into the bathroom.

While putting on his coat, Sam asked, "Why didn't you go before?"

"I did!" yelled Ainsley behind the door. "But I have to go again and I was busy tying your damn tie!"

"It is true that pregnant women have mood swings," mumbled Sam.

Ainsley emerged from the bathroom a minute later. "Now I'm ready," she said while she grabbed the coat and checked her dress in the mirror one last time.

As they approached the car, Sam pulled out a magazine from his briefcase. "You can read this in the car." Sam gave Ainsley an _In Style_ magazine. "Josh's 'Man of Style' interview is in there."

"Finally, after months of reading nothing but memos and documents, I get some hard core reading!" Ainsley said, slipping into the car. She flipped through a couple of pages while Sam started the car. "You know, Josh looks pretty good in these pictures." Sam tilted his head at her. "Oh, but he has nothing on my man."

* * *

The Seaborns walked into the White House with their fingers laced around each others. The rooms of the White House were elaborately decorated. Drinks and appetizers were flowing from table to table.

"You two finally decided to show up," said Leo as he approached the couple.

"Ainsley had to pee," announced Sam.

"Thank you, Sam," grimaced Leo. "Ainsley, you look beautiful."

"Why, thank you," smiled Ainsley.

Leo nodded his head, "I need to speak with the two of you later." Sam's eyes got big and his grip around Ainsley's hand tightened. "Oh, relax, kids. It's about Ainsley maternity leave. Enjoy your night," he said before walking away to converse with other guests.

"So, Leo gives you a compliment and you and say 'thank you' but when I say you look nice, you just tell me to shut up," observed Sam.

Ainsley grabbed a glass of water from the waitress. "Yeah. But don't think I didn't appreciate your compliment. I love compliments." Sam and Ainsley walked along the wall for a minute, taking in the activities.

"Hey, you guys finally came!" said Donna as she approached the couple.

"We thought you got lost," Josh said, following Donna.

"You can blame Ainsley," objected Sam as he pulled out a chair for Ainsley then sat down himself.

Ainsley hit Sam's shoulder then hissed, "And two more people need to know about the pressure my kid is putting on my bladder."

Donna admired Ainsley's dress. "Ainse, you are glowing! That navy looks amazing on you."

"Thanks, Donna. I love how your dress is cut. I won't be able to fit in anything like that for a while." Ainsley had a hint of jealously in her friend's clean and delicate white dress.

"Did Donna tie your tie?" asked Sam to Josh.

"Yeah.

"You would think a guy who was in _In_ _Style_ would know how to tie a tie."

CJ in a deep green ball gown briskly joined the couples at the table. "Hey, Josh, I'm going to be quite sad to see Donna go to the First Lady's office. I can't survive without her either."

Ainsley joked, "It will be exactly like having a best friend move away everyday, except I know she will be back."

Everyone around the table seemed to have a good laugh- except for Josh. "Yeah, you guys are just jealous you weren't featured in a fashion magazine."

"No, not really," said Sam.

Donna took a sip of her wine before saying, "How excited are you guys for the baby? Only four more months!"

Josh said, "Donna, looks like you are more excited than they are."

"Why do I have to sit with you guys?" asked Toby as he approached the table. Although he gruffly sat in the chair, he was secretly glad he was put with his friends and not the latest in-actors in Hollywood.

Donna wiggled with excitement. "So, is the baby's room done yet?"

"Actually no," said Sam.

"We really haven't done much to prepare for the baby yet," said Ainsley.

Sam added, "We did clean out his-"

"-or her-," said Ainsley.

"-room, which is really a big step for us," ended Sam.

"Did you pick out the paint color yet?" wondered CJ.

Sam shook his head. "No."

"Are you going with wallpaper?" asked Donna.

"But we did clean out the room," said Ainsley, trying to avoid the list of things she has not done yet.

Sam put his hands on hers. "We already covered that."

"Sorry, this pregnancy must be affecting my short term memory."

"I'm so glad your memory is defending the people of the White House," Toby said with his sarcastic tone.

Donna crinkled her eyebrows. "You guys have nothing yet?"

Both Sam and Ainsley looked at each other. Ainsley shrugged while Sam shook his head.

"So anything is up for grabs at your baby shower?" clarified CJ.

"Oh, you guys don't have to give me a baby shower," said Ainsley. "I know everyone here is busy. Sam and I just haven't had the time to take a day and buy some things."

"We're giving you a baby shower," said CJ. "This is our first baby of the administration. Besides, Mrs. Bartlet is planning most of it."

Donna added, "She hasn't planned one since Elizabeth and she does not expect Ellie or Zoey to settle down soon."

"You should not worry about a thing," reassured CJ. "We are taking care of everything. You just need to show up."

"Oh, and it's a co-ed baby shower. So boys can come to," said Donna.

"Thanks," said Sam.

"Josh and Sam," called Leo as he came back to the table. "Take a walk with me."

* * *

Sam came home from the Dinner at one o'clock in the morning to find Ainsley was one the computer. Shoving his coat in the closet and taking off his tie, Sam whispered, "Why are you still awake?"

"I couldn't sleep. Why are you whispering?"

"I can see that," he said, still keeping his voice low.

"CJ and Donna got me freaked out and then you weren't here to comfort me. And I couldn't find or think of any reason why Leo would make you leave the Dinner for two hours. Nonetheless, you did appear-"

"Ainsley?"

"-every once in a while, but still-"

"Ainsley." Even if Sam was blind, he could have still noticed how nervous Ainsley was by listening to her talk.

She continued to ramble, "It's an important social gathering with lots of important people..."

"Ainsley!"

"What?"

"What's going on?"

"The baby. Didn't you see how unprepared we are?"

Sam checked out what Ainsley was doing on the computer. "That's a nice crib," he said. "We'll be fine. I'll take you shopping tomorrow, or when the sun comes out today," he said, checking his watch.

"SAM! I'm scared!"

"Or we can go shopping right now?" suggested Sam.

Ainsley's six months of pregnancy build up exploded. "I'm scared I won't be a good mother, Sam! I'm not scared about having the right crib or having a baby shower. We are having a baby in almost two months and so far we only added a room and talked about which one would give up their job if we couldn't find the time to take care of it. We've only talked about what we are going to buy or do, but we've done nothing. I'm just scared, Sam!"

Sam kneeled down to look Ainsley in her moist puffy eyes. "Me too. I'm scared too, but between your mom, my mom, and all the women at the White House, you'll have plenty of people to help. And since Leo basically lives in his office, tomorrow we'll talk to him, and then we'll go do something to prepare for the baby."

"Okay," said Ainsley as Sam wiped her wet cheeks and gave her some kisses.

"I'm pretty good at this husband thing, aren't I?" asked Sam.

Ainsley let out a little laugh and nodded her head. "Sam? What did Leo want tonight?"

Sam sighed, looking at the rug. "Josh and I interned for a Congressman way back."

"Who?"

"Congressman Douglass. He passed away this afternoon. The funeral is Wednesday in New England. The President was good friends with him and Josh will probably go."

Ainsley wrapped her arms around Sam. "You should go."

"Wednesday's our doctor's appointments," objected Sam.

"I'll be okay by myself. I'll take someone if I have too."

"Yeah," agreed Sam. He stood up then pulled Ainsley up with him. "Sorry you had to come home by yourself."

Ainsley shrugged. "It's wasn't a big deal."

"Now are you ready for bed?" asked Sam, pulling her toward the bedroom.

Ainsley yawned. "I think so. Are you credit cards ready for tomorrow?" she giggled.

"Don't make me regret taking you shopping—or marrying you."

"What about the making love we do?" asked Ainsley, rubbing her swollen belly.

"That's one thing I would never regret," said Sam truthfully as he closed the door behind them.


End file.
